Ruby Rose, Remnant Knight
by Lord Revan Flame
Summary: Some time has passed since the Valean Breach, but in that time Ruby Rose has been betrayed. Her partner abandoned her, her schoolmates look at her with disgust, even her own sister has lost trust in her. However, in her darkest hour there is light. Discovering an ancient order of guardians, she hops to the challenge of joining their ranks and defending Remnant from a new evil.
1. Knights

**Is this thing on?**

**Hey, you**

**Yeah you, back there behind the screen**

**You getting all this writing?**

**...**

**Mm hm, yeah I'm wondering if we're on?**

**...**

**We are?**

**Alright, let's get this going, I got people to kill!**

**Heh heh heh**

**Ahem!**

**Hey RWBY Fanfic lovers!**

**Lord Revan Flame here!**

**So this is a new story I'm starting**

**No, not Grimmzilla**

**Oh, by the way, Grimmzilla is a prototype name, not the actual, finalized name for the uber Grimm I'm making**

**Anyways, this is a second RWBY betrayed story**

**A bit more intense**

**And with that knowledge, here's some more!**

**I thought this up a while back and didn't pay much attention to it until now**

**I just can't let it go to waste so this will be my second story**

**This is another RoseArc**

**I just love that pairing!**

**Weapons Nerd + Blonde Nerd = Cutest, most awkward relationship I know of**

**Now**

**Since you've been waiting**

**Let's begin!**

**Ack ahem!**

* * *

><p>Long before there was Men and Faunus, there was nothing. Then there came darkness and after that, light. The light poured forth from a power unknown and birthed life, celestial bodies were formed and living beings born into the light from whence it came. However, as the light burned away darkness, the shadows left behind their mark.<p>

Creatures of darkness, creatures of evil, creatures of Grimm. Reflecting the being birthed from light, they were hateful creatures who hunted all, feasting on flesh and bone and blood. It was so long ago, long before the great Hunters were formed and long before the Kingdoms of Remnant were created that an order of mighty defenders were formed.

Countless ages ago, there were a group of individuals, an alliance of great warriors and protectors from different clans and kingdoms and nations that formed a circle, a brotherhood. Together, they defended their home, the world of Remnant from the darkness that remained, the Creatures of Grimm. They were made up of not only fighters, but thinkers as well.

Great minds who philosophized the society based laws and the rules of science that modern day Men and Faunus follow. It was these people who defended the people, these people who forged mighty weapons and crafted great armors, people who inspired others to fight for their freedom.

However, one day they fell to a power all to great. The power that gave birth to the greatest power Humanity and Faunus would ever wield. The power which pushed back their ancient foe, the Creatures of Grimm. It was a power that could corrupt even one of their inner circle.

It was the Dust Essence.

An ancient, powerful force predating the very world of Remnant, perhaps even the universe. Not much was known of its origins, much is not known in modern day Remnant, but it was known for its power, its unlimited power. When the corrupt began to use it against their rivals, a great cataclysm occurred and from it came the Hunter Program and the four kingdoms of Remnant...

* * *

><p>"Attack!"<p>

The army moved forward into battle, warriors dressed in steel armor, wielding weapons of all kinds or holding up banners or manning machines of war. They did not charge, they marched with courage, footsteps echoing throughout the area they battled on. The clanking of armor struck fear into the hearts of their enemies as the army formed from the different nations and clans moved towards the fortress in the mountain.

Their fear tactics, however, would not work on these monsters. Massive Grimm carrying large war machines on their backs lumbered into battle. Bone plating deflecting attacks, hide as black as the darkest of hearts being the last a human or Faunus would ever see, and eyes burning blood red with pure hate for all things of the light.

The battle was long and hard, mercy was not given to any opponent as blades were swung, blunt weapons smashed, spikes impaled, and blood spilled. What seemed to be a swift and one sided victory turned into days of conflict as the armies of all Remnant fought before the mountain. Red days, long hours full of blood and death that stretched on for what seemed like years.

By the time the battle neared its end, few were left of the armies, banners were torn, encampment and trenches filled with rats thirsting for blood, and even the mountain fortress was devastated, its walls broken, but its forces still standing strong. The mountains ringing the great plains turned black as the smoke continued to rise into the sky.

Then, there came the sound, the explosive sound that resembled a far off sonic boom before a humming screech resounded off the bloodied ground and stone mountain walls. A light came down from the heavens, a pillar of many vivid colors which struck the floor of the battlefield. A cloud of dust and dirt flew up into the air as the pillar of light continued shooting down into the ground before disappearing into nothingness leaving a mass force of different men and woman, all dressed in different forms of armor.

At the lead stood four people, two men and two women, all ready for battle.

"Nuva!" the woman at the front shouted, charging forward.

She was dressed in metal plate armor from head to toe, shoulder plates and a chest piece covering her chest along with crimson cloth where no metal protected her. Greaves and gauntlets, elbow and knee plates, all made of steel and gleaming in the blazing sun. In another place people would blush and whisper of what beauty she possessed in the steel armor that glowed brightly in the light, but here she was feared as the great, Angel of Death of the center kingdoms. The name referred to both the small, decorative wings on the sides of her helmet and her own semblance as well as the angelic look she possessed while wielding her dual swords which she fought with in a flux manner.

Swinging her arms around, she had pulled twin swords from her back and cleaved a Beowolf in half. The moment the blades left their sheaths, twin translucent wings glowing gold appeared on her back, allowing her flight as she fought. Swinging again, she beheaded an Ursa before flying up and stabbing both blades into the hide of a King Manticore. The massive beast roared in pain and stumbled around as she started scaling its black furred hide, using the swords to climb as to not be a fly to the monstrosity. Its bone dorsal plates curved upwards were her target as she made her way along its body. Finally arriving, she stabbed in the spot in between the two rows, hitting its spine.

The monster gave a final cry of pain before toppling, falling atop a small group of King Taijitu, killing them. When a Goliath rushed her, swinging its trunk, a man leaped over her swinging down a hammer and axe.

"Nuva!" he shouted and swung his hammer, the large head shaped into a square with a pyramid-like tip on the other side of it.

He batted away its trunk and smashed its front, right leg backwards before swinging his axe in his right hand, embedding it deep in the black hide. The bone snapped and it gave a cry of pain. As it fell, he slammed his hammer into its head, killing it with trauma before swinging his axe to cleave a Beowolf's head in half as it was lunging at him. He twirled his hammer in his hand before striking the ground, causing the earth to tear open as a crevice appeared, swallowing whole Grimm down into its dark depths. He continued swinging, striking Grimm and sending them flying or blocking with a octagonal shield planted on his left arm.

Already, his armor had been doused in blood, but only in Grimm blood. He was like rage incarnate, fighting with strength and power, courage and willpower were behind every swing of his hammer or axe. His armor was intricate, crafted finely in a bulky, strong image and colored shades of steel, titanium, copper, gold, and even gleaming jewels, shaped geometrically as to not be curved, but straight and strong. He was the Smithlord, the Battlemaster of the northern clans, great blacksmith of weapons and armor as well as mightiest warrior of the militaristic clans.

"Nuva!"

When a Nevermore swooped down to grip him with its claws, a woman appeared, dressed in a mix of robes and small armor plates all colored a dark purple and faint blue. She thrust her arm forward, fingers outstretched as lightning jumped across her clothed and armored arm. Shooting out, it singed the flying creature, killing it and sending it falling onto the Grimm horde. She swung her arms and several more mystic attacks came out, all of different elements. She sent a hail of fire down upon packs of Beowolves, a wave of water rushing at a cyclone of Deathstalkers, and a quake in the earth at a stampeding herd of Goliaths.

Her robes danced around her as she continually whipped around, thrusting out her arms and kicking her legs to shoot out attacks of dust. She was the Dust Mystic, she who discovered secrets that could never be uttered, wielder of the mighty power which ascended Humankind and Faunus kind, hailing from the western tribes.

"Nuva!" a final voice cried out as a man dressed in a robe colored brilliant white and a red that looked like the color of a rising sun.

On his happi colored red and white, he wore the traditional armor of an honorable oriental warrior. Hailing from the far west hierarchies, he wielded the oriental sword of his people. Slicing through bone and dark flesh, the eastern man slaughtered his way towards the other three. His armor was strong, colored a rusted red and dark grey, capable of deflecting the slashes of most of the Grimm. The claws of an Ursa slid across his armored shoulder and he swung around, slicing open its gut. He stabbed a Deathstalker through its head, impaling it on his blade before looking around.

Seeing one of his brothers in distress, he threw his sword, the oriental blade embedding itself into the Creature of Grimm in the head as he twirled and quickly gripped his bow. Pulling it up, he had already drawn back three arrows, firing the trio in succession. They met their mark and three Ursi fell to the ground, arrow shafts sticking from their right eyes. Walking over to his sword, the honor bound Steel Vanguard, he who lead his people into a new age of change and prosperity.

As the tide of darkness swallowed up the newcomers, they were pushed back by their power. These people, fewer in number than the army that had come to this place, were outnumbered, but not overpowered. Any of these armor donned fighters cleaved their way through the Grimm horde. As they fought, a man watched atop the mountain fortress.

He wore no simple armor, only robes colored dark red like blood covered in the bone plating of Grimm, using the trophies he had taken as his defensive outfit. Wielding a morning star in his hand, he clenched his left hand, fingers clawed by bone white gloves scratching the rest of his gauntlet.

"The time is now," he rasped and turned to walk towards a large stone podium on which hovered a glowing object.

A diamond shape, small and thin, about the size of a young adult's fist, it glowed brightly with power. He reached out towards it, his fingers with bone plating sharpened to a point nearly touching the ever changing crystal. Suddenly, however, a sonic boom resounded above him and he looked up in horror as a humming screech gave way for a pillar of light to come down on the podium.

Out of the light came several of the newcomer combatants, all running towards him. He charged as well and swung his morning star. A shock wave of force knocked back two of the three attackers before he smashed the other one into the floor, the spike on the weapon's head making the man's head stick to it. Sneering, he shook the weapon and the head slid off the spike with a sick, slicking sound.

That is when he heard the sound of clanking armor, unlike that of the armies of the nations and clans. This was a single noise, one that came from a man donned in armor, streamline and colored royal blue and gold. In one hand he held a sword, a broadsword with a golden cross guard and a blade gleaming steel grey. A helm was set over his head, a T shaped opening at the front allowing the man sight and breath.

"Azduil," he breathed and the Grimm bone armored man smirked underneath a helm that was a Grimm's skull.

"Ah, the mighty King of Knights, the demon bane of Grimm, and the ever so wise Overseer," he chuckled, his voice raspy and yet it held a tone of friendliness to it, "it has been long my old friend, my brother."

"You lost the right to call me that long ago!" Overseer yelled with authority at his opponent. "You lost the right to call me brother when you betrayed us."

"I betrayed no one, I do what is right."

"For yourself."

"No! For all Remnant, our people fight amongst themselves, men against men, Faunus against men."

"That is because conflict is a natural part of all life."

"Then I will change the course of life," Azduil stated and raised his morning star. "You cannot stop me."

"That is where you are wrong," Overseer stated and pointed his blade up causing the pillar of light behind him to vanish, shooting back up into the sky, taking the Dust Essence with it.

"No!" Azduil roared and charged, swinging down on him.

He raised his broadsword, blocking the attack and locking weapons with him.

"You may have found the way to control Grimm, you may have built your army and fortress, but I will not let you rebuild a world you destroyed."

With that he pushed his sword forward causing Azduil to stumble back. Swinging, he attempted to cut him across the chest, but his opponent's arrogance had reason as the blade bounced off the bone armor.

"I wear the bones of my prey, I have fed on their blood and survived, I am superior to you my brother!"

"You are no brother of mine!" he shouted and stabbed forward, actually piercing him in between chinks in the armor.

Azduil gasped in pain and his hand grabbed Overseer's helm. Pulling, he attempted to rip his head off, but only tore off the helmet revealing hair as black as ash that turned grey at every end of each strand. His eyes were like the skies at night when no clouds were visible, except... except far more colorful. Clouds of flashing and glowing colors, stars brightly shimmering, suns burning and exploding, spots void of all other colors save black, and if one were to look close enough, they could see the lives of all things on Remnant. All of this could be seen in his eyes as if the universe had been contained in them.

In an act of vengeance, he swung down and knocked the Overseer away, sending him into a pillar of stone. He gasped and groaned in pain as he got on his hands and knees, but quickly rolled away as the head of the morning star slammed down on the ground. With blood leaking from holes in his broken armor, Overseer rose up to stare down his foe, slashing with his sword to cut him across the back.

"I will not die here!" Azduil shouted as he swung his morning star once more.

The battle continued on, stone crushed under the morning star or cut apart by the broadsword. Armor broken and severed, skin cut open and tainted red with blood. Below the mountain fortress, the battle had been won, the Grimm nearly exterminated as they ran off, their controller's mind put fully into his battle with Overseer. The four leaders of the army watched with knowing horror as their leader fought to the bitter end.

"This is the end for us, Azduil," Overseer stated and impaled his sword deep into the stone ground.

"No!" the bone armored warrior bellowed as he ran to stop his opponent.

"Forgive me, my love!"

In an instant, the light of every color came down upon the mountain, but not as a pillar. Instead it was a crushing force that shot through its rocky surface and destroyed all within. A shock wave went out, sending dust pluming like clouds with smoke and fire rising from the obliterated fortress. Everything was a loud boom, then everything was silent. As the knights rose from the dust, they moved towards the rubble. The Grimm had been driven off, the humans and Faunus who fought underneath the bone armored man put on their hands and knees with iron clasping their hands together.

The four leaders found themselves around their king, the great all seeing knight. Coughing up blood, his body burnt and broken, he lay there dying. The angelic warrior had bent down, holding her leader's hand as he stared blankly into the sky. Whispering small words, his eyes full of stars fading, he gave them his sword, turning it into his heirloom so that another may wield it.

* * *

><p>Several days had passed and the four warriors stood atop a tall cliff that stood over a vast valley filled with green and blue. A grave was before them, the tombstone reading simply the life of their king.<p>

_Simer Fioran  
>Wise Overseer and mighty leader of the Remnant Knights<br>A faithful and loyal friend and husband and father  
>May his soul rest in peace<br>_

"My lords and ladies," a voice spoke and the four turned to see a messenger standing there, dressed in bloodied armor from only days before at the mighty battle. "We have the Dust Essence, shall we destroy it?"

"No," the first answered, the Angel of Death, "we fear it may cause the same amount of cataclysm destroyed as it would used."

"Then what would you have us do with it?"

"Bury it deep," the Smithlord answered, stepping forward with a stamping of his hammer's shaft into the ground, his thick beard colored coal black shifting as he spoke. "Where none may find it."

He nodded and walked away, revealing a woman standing behind him, holding a child in a blanket. She stepped forward, walking towards her deceased lover's grave. Tears streamed down her eyes, but she held a face of authority amongst the four.

"Aurora," the Angel of Death greeted and bowed her upper body before placing a hand of reassurance on the other woman's shoulder, "he fought bravely and died a hero's death."

"I know," she whispered, cradling the baby girl in her arms and smiled, "he always said he would like to pass in a bright flash."

The four smiled at the fond idea of their good friend speaking of a grand death, the one he had received.

"Mavis," Aurora spoke and turned to the angelic warrior, "I believe it is time you honor his last wishes."

"My lady, we are not fit to be hierarchs, er- rulers," the eastern warrior spoke, sliding his sword into its sheathe at his side. "We are but humble warriors."

"Which is why he chose you," she explained and they all raised eyebrows in questioning manners. "What better rulers are those who fight by their people's side instead of from atop a throne of elegance. He believed you would bring great change to this world of ours."

They remained silent in thought and she stepped back, admiring the view of all four warriors.

The Angel of Death, an angelic woman, body athletic and slim, hips pert creating a nice derriere and supple breasts covered in crimson cloth and hard steel armor. Skin fair and crimson hair cut short with a curve to create a bob around her head. Eyes like amethyst jewels, shining purple with a courageous personality and strong loyalty.

The Smithlord, tall and strong, body muscular and skin tanned from his work in the forges giving him large arms which could hold five women each. Dressed from head to toe in the finest armor made of all kinds of metals and a head with copper eyes showing great confidence and pride. Hair and beard colored coal black, flowing down with jewelry tying them into individual strands near the ends.

The Dust Mystic, a beautiful woman older than the other one, barely in the years after her prime. Skin pale countless spans of time spent in libraries with a body petite, being more adorable than beautiful. Her chest was only budding compared to the other woman of the four, but still attracting the men and a rear that still was eye catching. Her eyes a diamond blue, sparkling with recent and ancient knowledge, hair platinum blonde and tied in a braid down her back. Her robes and armor finely sown and forged, marked with magical glyphs.

The Steel Vanguard, the honorable warrior of the far east. Dressed in his people's signature armor, his skin tan from his practice in the sun and his body muscular. Taller than the others and skilled in every weapon, his brown eyes reflect his power and authority as his sharp features did. Hair cut to only have a ponytail colored dark brown like cocoa beans. He had a stubby beard coming from atop his upper lip to go down to his chin giving him an almost grandfatherly look, wise and old, weary, but still strong.

"Lady Mavis Vale," the wife of the deceased Overseer spoke and the Angel of Death fell to one knee, "you shall lead the center kingdoms, uniting them under your leadership. Your beauty shall be called divine and body heavenly, but your swords will be compared to Death's own scythe as you push back the darkness."

"Lord Throrin Atlas," she spoke and the Smithlord bowed forward, "you shall forge mighty kingdom for your people far more valuable than any craft you have created before. With your hand, your people will build the mightiest armies, weapons, and armor. The strongest force in all the world formed to defend those who would need aid."

"Lady Arthuria Vacuo," Aurora named and the smaller, but older woman of the four put her hands together as if to pray before bowing, "with your knowledge, the eastern warrior nations shall become a force to be reckoned with. Swords and knowledge will both serve equally on the battlefield as you teach to strategize and learn from defeat or victory."

"Hierarch Hiro Mistral," the last of the four put his fist in an flat palm bowing his upper body slightly as he would do to his elders in the west, "your wisdom shall pull the western hierarchies together and form a kingdom you shall rule with a gentle hand and an iron fist. Criminals will be punished, but the poor shall be ascended."

The four rose back up, standing tall with new confidence as the woman looked upon the four rulers.

"Go, go and unite the kingdoms to make four," Aurora ordered and they obliged, leaving immediately for their home countries.

In the years to come, the central kingdoms known for being on the eastern shores of the continent of Vytal and for being at the center of the known map were united under a new leadership. Going from castle to castle, stronghold to stronghold, fortress to fortress, Mavis Vale journeyed to ally her people together. Hailing as a daughter of a warrior noble family, she went to even small villages and towns to spread her idea of a united kingdom. Through her, the kingdom of Vale was born with her as its Angelic Monarch.

Far north in the region of Mantle, the warring clans met a new power. Throrin Atlas lead his clansmen into battle against rival clans and bandits as to unite his own people. What once was a civilization that warred against itself became a force of defensive power. The northern clans turned into a kingdom fueled by its desire to become the strongest, its military force becoming the the apex of all others. Great forges were constructed, mighty weapons and armor made from the best metals, machines invented for civilian use or military application. The great Smithlord became known as King of Forges, founder of the kingdom of Atlas.

To the west on the continent of Vytal, Arthuria Vacuo began uniting her people's tribes. Using her vast knowledge to its fullest, uplifting certain people or ending those far to dark and evil that could not be allowed to remain. The dust sorceress created a great kingdom from the tribes, advancing to create a society based on freedom. The kingdom of Vacuo came to be with the revered Arcane Empress as its ruler.

At the far east of Remnant, Hiro Mistral traveled back to his homeland. There, he taught the people of the Orient new ideals, new knowledge, and a new idea on society. Their hierarchies and their rulers were overthrown in favor of a single ruler, a man who would judge fairly and fight for what was truly right. Thus, the kingdom of Mistral was formed and its ruler, the People's Blade.

Four kingdoms, four rulers, one final result. As the war came to a swift end, a program was initiated as to stop the threat of the Grimm if they ever were to rise again. The Huntsman and Huntresses were created, trained fighters, defenders of Human and Faunus kind. Two Kings, two queens, all creating royal lineages. Their royal lineage continued on as they had their children, either finding one to love or adopting a small one to love.

As history knew it, the kingdoms intertwined in many ways, the royal lineages always becoming allies and friends, trading resources, etcetera etcetera. What history did not know, was where the four founding rulers came from, what side they were on in the Great War. From an order of warriors predating the Hunters, the fighters who were the forerunners and precursors to all things huntsman and huntress, they were trained.

Before there were teams of hunters, before the kingdoms were born, there were those men and women whose strength made them champions. Defenders of the people, champions of light, the great guardians of all. They were known as The Knights of Remnant.

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><p><strong>There you go folks<strong>

**Knights of Remnant**

**The four original founders of the kingdoms**

**Mavis Vale**

**Throrin Atlas**

**Arthuria Vacuo**

**Hiro Mistral**

**By the way, if you felt uncomfortable with some of the detailed explanation of them**

**Well that's just cause I felt like expanding some detail stuff  
><em>(By some questioning I've wondered if lemons would be appropriate in this new story. This would turn it into an M rated story however or it would remain T with M rated content at points.)<em>**

**As we go on down this list**

**I will say once more**

**This is a Ruby betrayed story**

**I know not yet how it shall go, but it shall go gloriously and fantastically!  
><strong>

**So give me your thoughts**

**Review, Favorite, and Follow**

**Sincerely,  
>Lord Revan Flame<strong>


	2. Betrayal called Heresy

**Hey guys**

**How's it going?**

**So here is the first official chapter of Ruby Rose, Remnant Knight**

**I hope you guys liked the prologue**

**I did a lot of detail in explaining the appearance of the four kingdom founders**

**They come into play in a bit**

**Now, onto the explanation of the story**

**So about RoseArc**

**With speculation and conversation with another reader, I've created a RubyxOC pairing**

**Of course**

**Ruby betrayed**

**New twist**

**Yang is against her  
>(Gonna make this heartwrenching and stuff)<strong>

**Few of her friends are against her  
>(Jaune is eh while Nora and Ren are right about to do it with Pyrrha and Blake will not betray her)<strong>

**There will be OCs**

**Plenty of OCs**

**So following that**

**I want to give you all a big thanks for all the support and love I've gotten**

**Along with that the flames that helped make my story better and better**

**I love you all and wish you the best**

**Now, onto the tale of woe!**

**Ruby's betrayal!**

* * *

><p>"Step forward!" the councilor boomed in the court room and I squirmed, shaking in terror as I moved one foot in front of the other.<p>

I was wearing what I always did, red cloak, blouse, skirt, boots, rose symbol, and my red cloak, I said my cloak already, right? The only difference from what I usually wore was the handcuffs on my wrists. I looked at them, seeing a blurred reflection of my face in the cold metal as I walked.

Stepping into the spotlight, I stood in a large chamber, two peanut galleries on either side of the rectangular room. Well, one side was made up of students of Beacon from all the different years and the other side was the councilors of Vale, Atlas, Vacuo, and Mistral. In front of me was a podium and farther up were Vale's two high councilors and three pairs of the other kingdom's councilors, then there was... Ozpin, er- Professor Ozpin.

"You are Ruby Rose, yes?" the other high councilor questioned and I nodded.

Vale's councilors were two people, a man and a female rabbit Faunus. Atlas was the same except they had a man and a woman instead of a man and a Faunus. Mistral was ruled the same way, but Vacuo had two Faunus' as their councilors.

"Tell us, what is your side of the story?" he questioned as a few other high councilors glared at me.

"Well, sir..." I trailed off, my voice shaking as I quivered.

I could hear the Beacon students jeering silently and whispering hate words while the rest of the kingdom's councilors looked at me with disdain and disappointment. Lower in the back of the room was the rest of Beacon Academy, either guys or girls who could get into the room or people watching on cameras or the teachers.

"It was just like any other mission, but... I spared some Faunus."

"White Fang, correct?" the Vale Faunus councilor spoke and I nodded causing the eight high councilors to murmur among themselves. "And why did you spare them?"

I snapped back into attention at her question and looked on with whatever confidence I was still holding onto. Each councilor stood on tall podiums, probably sitting on really tall chairs so they looked better than everyone else.

"They surrendered, they told me they were forced to fight for the White Fang," I answered, but a couple of anti-Faunus people started jeering, both from the either peanut gallery.

"Traitor! She's a traitor!"

"Idiot!"

"Liar!"

There were also bad words in those comments, the bad words Yang stopped people from uttering around me. She couldn't stop it this time, I knew she wouldn't do it even if she could. I saw the look in her eyes when I passed by her while on my way here.

"Silence! There shall be silence in this council meeting!" an Atlesian councilor shouted and everyone shut their mouths.

"Now, tell us, why not kill them?"

"Why should I have? They were innocent, they didn't need to be killed-"

"Yet you allowed them to flee and with that, the information you were to seek was lost!" a Mistral councilor shouted and the peanut galleries went up in a roar again.

The Atlesian councilors attempted to quell the outbursts, but while they did I listened in on what several of the high council members were murmuring about.

"End this... punish... people demand... the bungler has no chance... cannot become..."

They stopped as more quietness settled and I knew what was coming.

"You were one of our most carefully watched students, Ms. Rose," the rabbit Faunus councilor of Vale spoke up, "but your inability to do what is needed and the rumors surrounding your actions at Beacon-"

"Those are lies!" I shouted, trying to make them change their minds desperately.

I don't know how it started, but it did start a while ago, just a bit after the Vale Breach. I thought it would all be alright, that the school year would go back on schedule, but then people started avoiding me except those sleazy guys. Yang was always with me after that, protecting me, but eventually she started avoiding me. Weiss accused me of being a... just, something awful, but Blake wouldn't believe the lies I figured out were the reason for all of what was happening to me. Jaune and Nora and Ren and Pyrrha, they were all with me, but I could see their faith in me flickering from time to time.

"Be silent, child!" a Vacuo councilor stated, a wolf Faunus from what I could tell, male too. "Your actions caused us to lose more ground to these terrorists that plague both your people and ours, then these rumors! They scandal the very name of Vale's most prestigious academy, an academy all our kingdoms allow students to transfer to for foreign exchanges! This is failure!"

The peanut galleries didn't burst out this time and I almost let out a sigh, almost. Suddenly, a couple seconds after he stopped speaking I saw another councilor stand up.

"Nay! It is heresy!"

The entire room erupted in jeers and trash talking, trying to down me even more. I felt tears well up, but I forced them not to fall while my cheeks turned as red as my cloak. I trembled and squirmed, just standing there in the middle of the room in front of everyone.

"I will stop them, I pro-"

"No, you will not promise," the Valean councilor that started the meeting off with stated, his eyes weary. "Already, your own team abandons you and does the rest of your schoolmates, then your teachers, and now you are here."

He motioned at the two Atlesian guards at either side of me and they grabbed my arms.

"Our verdict is given," all the councilors spoke up in a mighty mix of voices, "Ruby Rose shall be allowed to continue her career as a huntress-in-training, but she shall do so in shame."

The crowd continued on jeering at me as I was dragged off, watching the high council made up of the pairs of high councilors from each kingdom speak. Ozpin gave me a sad look, one that gave me sympathy as he looked down.

"You will be able to gain the title of huntress," an Atlesian councilor said as I neared the chamber's doors, "but when your brothers and sisters-in-arms attain greatness, the weight of your sins shall stay your feet, and you will be left behind."

* * *

><p>"You stupid imbecile!" Weiss screamed at me as I sat on my bed, arms crossed as more tears slipped down my cheeks.<p>

It was a week after the trial and everyone just hated me, well, almost everyone. The teachers still liked me, most of them at least. Most of the students hated me though, but there were a couple who liked me. Weiss was against me, she didn't even call me dolt anymore.

"Weiss-"

Blake was cut off by Yang who put her hand in front of the cat Faunus.

"No, Blake, Ruby deserves this."

"How can you say that? She's your sister!"

"No, she's not, not anymore," my ex-blonde sis stated and I felt my heart break even more. "She lied to us."

"I didn't!" I screamed at her, but the brawler threatened to slap me, pulling back her hand.

"Yang! Ruby is not... she isn't... Ruby does not do _favors_ for people," Blake slowly spoke, growling out the last words.

"How am I suppose to know if that's a rumor or the truth! She goes missing every other night!"

"Because I go train!" I argued, but she sent a glare my way.

"Oh yeah? Then how come no one sees you train?"

"Because I'm in the Emerald Forest practicing on Grimm!"

"Oh, let me guess, you clean your precious sweetheart too so you have no evidence!"

That stung because it was true, I really did clean it. Maintenance, but I guess it got me out of situation in battle and into one that was more emotional.

"That's right, stay silent," Yang growled as she went to her bed.

"You... argh!" Weiss growled loudly and fell onto her bed, arms crossed in anger. "I can't believe you!"

"I can't believe you!" I screamed back, jumping down onto the floor. "I can't believe my own sister doesn't believe me!"

Yang got up, but she didn't move towards me. She just stood there, looking at the floor, but when she looked up, her hair was glowing and her eyes were blood red.

"Your mom would be so disappointed," she stated, calming down to a silent rage.

That snapped me, it broke the final... whatever of my repressed feelings. I shot forward, using my semblance to fly towards her. My hand slapped her and she stumbled back while I stood there, taking one step back in shock at what I had done. Her eyes turned instantly blood red and her hair burst into flames. She raised her fist, ready to strike back, harder.

It was in Yang's nature to be better. If you hit her, she'll hit harder. That's why I jumped out of the way as a blast from Ember Celica blew open the wall behind us. Thankfully, I was by the window so she didn't blow up the hall, unfortunately I was also standing on the edge of falling to my probable death.

"Yang!" both my teammates screamed, Blake being more concerned for me while Weiss was concerned about getting in trouble.

"You little!," Yang shouted as she tried to teach me a lesson, tried being a key word in that.

I dodged and jumped down, using my aura to shield me as I hit the ground. I tried to flee, but a couple more blasts blew up the ground in front of me. Yang dropped down and landed behind me as I unfolded Crescent Rose.

"Come on!" I shouted, wanting to just beat her up so she could see I wasn't weak and then I'd tell her to believe me.

We fought and for a while I was winning through all of it. The problem with Yang was she was a hot head, not that I wasn't either, but right now I was a bit more level headed. I dodged and sliced, cutting open her clothes and drawing some red lines on her skin. Then, out of nowhere, a line of ice shot across the ground and grabbed my foot. I looked over to see Weiss with Myrtenaster in the ground, using her dust to freeze me in place.

She was trying to help Yang teach me a lesson! I tried slicing at the ice, but I was to afraid that I'd cut off my leg. Suddenly, Yang's fist collided with me and I was sent flying. I hit the ground with Crescent Rose, hearing an audible breaking noise from my sweetheart. Before she could attack again, however, I ran off with Crescent Rose, ready to just leave and be done with it all.

* * *

><p>My feet made the stone steps tap as I walked the long path down into the Grimm infested forest. I stayed by the ruins where I fought the Nevermore with my team before we were a team. The place was only visited by Beowolves since there was probably a den nearby. The occasional Ursa would come here, but I could take care of them. This was where I trained, where I had been going to sharpen my skills, not be a... prostitute.<p>

Tonight was more about relieving emotions instead of training because of what happened earlier. They thought I let people do things to me, willingly! They thought I was a traitor! They thought I was weak! I was cutting down trees and cutting through some stone stuff.

Sometime into my rage relieving, I heard Beowolves and then next thing I knew, a bone claw had cut through my blouse. My stomach had some cuts on it, bleeding a bit, but I had sense to jump back so the Beowolf hadn't gutted me. I cut off limbs and heads, making them spurt their dark red blood and making them into pieces of meat. It was a long time later that they were all dead, pretty big pack, must've been drawn by my hate and anger.

I guess I felt a lot of stress since what I did next was cut a row of fifteen or so trees down. Crescent Rose's blade slicing through the wood easily and letting me end up behind them all. The tree trunks groaned as they fell, making a whole line appear in the foliage, but I didn't care, I knew it wouldn't matter.

How dare they think those things, how dare that stupid Cardin spread rumors about me, how dare they! Great, now I'm thinking like Weiss... Weiss! I hate her with a passion now, that traitor! My own partner... my own sister. I can't believe Yang, what gives her the right to talk about my mother, what gave her the right to decide I was a disgrace?

Suddenly, I heard a loud cawing and turned in time to see a Nevermore swoop down to grab me with its talons. I jumped out of the way, dodging the Creature Of Grimm. It picked up dirt and let it go before flying off to circle around and come at me again. I tried changing my sweetheart, but I guess I found out what had broken when Yang hit me. Some gears must've gotten loose or something snapped inside, but anyways, my weapon didn't change like she was suppose to. Instead, Crescent Rose made this loud, short screech as the blade tried retracting into the body. I thought quickly and decided on firing my sweetheart in its current scythe form. I shot a couple of bullets, aiming for the head with the upgrades I'd given her during my team at Beacon.

However, it was as tough as the other one I fought during initiation, shrugging off the impact of each hit. The bullets bounced off it and it flapped its wings, shooting razor tipped feathers at me. I tried dodging, but I guess history really does repeat itself. A feather impaled my cloak and kept me pinned. I tried to get free, but I didn't want to ruin the cloak. I tried cutting the feather's stem or whatever and it did work, but the razor sharp edged was still pinning me.

It was circling around and just as I pulled my precious cloak off the remainder of the feather, it fired some more. I was ready to accept my fate, ready to die. I thought about how Yang and Weiss would feel, finding my body out here, how Blake and JNPR would feel, how dad and all my other friends would feel. I was thinking about... wait, how am I still thinking?

I opened the eyes I had closed to find a man standing over me, holding up a large, rectangular shield. It was a scutum, used a lot in the eastern kingdoms of Mistral, around the place where Pyrrha came from. I noticed it was glowing and realized it was an energy shield emitted by a projector on his left arm, making the whole thing appear, probably powered by some sort of dust or electrical power. He moved it away and pulled up his right arm where he had a shotgun in hand.

As the Nevermore swooped down, he got ready to fire. Just as the talons were at us, right when I could almost see my reflection in it from the moonlight gleaming off its probably recently washed talons, the newcomer fired. He hit it dead center in the chest. The bullets were probably incendiary, with fire dust in the metal because its black feathers burst into flames and the impact of the shot pushed it back enough for it not to grab us.

It tried flying off, but the fire dust bullets burned through its chest quickly, probably enhanced. It died and fell down, dying on a tree which some of its branches impaled it on. The man stood up, deactivating his scutum shield and putting his shotgun in a holster on his back. He turned around to look at me, he revealing his appearance.

He was average sized, well built will tan skin and an armored body covered from head to toe in golden gear. He gripped the sides of his helmet and pulled it off, showing a head full of black hair matched with a growing bear made of stubble. His eyes were colored light green and his face had three scars running across it, matching the wound a Beowolf would make.

"Now, why're you done here, young lady?" he asked and I squirmed in embarrassment.

"I, uh... I...," I stammered and he leaned in a bit by at least an inch. When I tried giving an explanation, all that came to mind was my betrayal. "Shouldn't you know?"

I had snapped at him, surprisingly catching him off guard, but his hard expression turned back to stone hard again.

"Now, ms... whatever, I would appreciate you telling the truth-"

"And what if you don't believe me like everyone else!" I screamed in his face, but quickly put up a guilty look after that with a fearful one.

He had stumbled back from the force of my voice, a shocked expression on his face as he stared at me. I felt more guilt start seeping into my heart as he stepped towards me until he was dwarfing me with his manly size.

"I honestly have no clue to what you speak of," was all he said and I raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Well, to be fair, I've been out here for, uh... I'd guess a couple of days, maybe a week or two, hard to tell without a calendar, or a charger for my scroll," he spoke again, scratching his head in thought. "And before that I was just out on a mission. Bloody Goodwitch put me on cleaning duty the moment I came back!"

He was yelling at he sky now, with a funny accent in his voice. He sounded like those snobby rich people from the old age, with all the big dresses and powdered wigs. Except, well, he sounded more modern and laid back when he spoke.

"Now, where was I? Oh! Yes, why're you out here?" he asked me again and I calmed myself down.

"I was just, well... training," I half lied and he raised an eyebrow, but nodded his head slowly in acceptance of my answer.

"Oh? Well, students are not allowed down here in the Emerald Forest unless you are recruit," he stated, arms crossed as he looked down at me.

"Really?" I nervously chuckled, face completely red now in embarrassment.

"Well, what year are you?"

"One."

"Oh, a new student, eh? What's your name?"

I was hesitating in giving him that answer. I didn't know if he actually did know about all those rumors or not, but I did know he wouldn't let me go if I didn't.

"R-ruby Rose, sir," I answered and his eyes went wide as he stumbled back, again.

"By the Overseer! You're the girl who killed the nevermore!" he shouted in joy and I tilted my head in confusion.

Instead of calling me a traitor or some cheating prostitute, he knew me as the girl who killed a flying Grimm.

"Uh, yeah..." I said, my voice trailing off into silence as I blushed a bit.

"Huh, Prof. Goodwitch gave me hell after she found out that Nevermore was there, I mean, the Deathstalker was suppose to be alive, but the Nevermore, hm... must've flown in from somewhere else," he muttered and I tilted my head further, almost falling over in confusion, literally.

"So... who are you?" I asked and he jumped at my voice.

"Oh! That's right, I haven't introduced myself!" he shouted and I nodded as he recomposed himself.

Putting an arm against his stomach, he bent his upper body forward in a slight and respectful bow.

"The name's Aksel Carmine, I'm pretty much the Emerald Forest's janitor," he explained and activated his shield again, the energy shield glowing red and crackling with small electrical tendrils jumping across its surface every now and then. "I keep the Grimm from getting out of check, keep 'em in here and not out there."

"Oh," I spoke in realization and he smirked before deactivating his shield.

"Alright, now we should get you back to the dorms," he stated and I jumped up in shock and fear.

"No no no no!" I shouted at him and he tilted his head in confusion.

"What?"

"I don't want to go back, I... please don't take me back there."

"Why? You're a student here, right?"

"I am, but... everyone hates me now..."

"Come on, I'm sure its just one bul-"

"I got put on trial, called a traitor, and my own sister hates me along with most of my team and the school," I snapped and he stared at me with wide eyes, mouth a shrunken to be this small thing that showed he was processing all of that.

He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again before looking down. He looked up at me one more time before looking down and rising up to his full height.

"Well, um... I guess I should... what were you put on trial for?"

"My team, Team RWBY," I started to explain hesitantly, "we were sent to shut down a White Fang base after the whole Vale Breach event. I spared some of the Faunus and they blamed me for the information we needed to get being stolen."

"That's it? You're a traitor for being a hero?"

"Hero? I let the information get stolen," I murmured, but he bent down getting on one knee to be at my level.

"Hey, it isn't our job to fight their battles," he stated and looked up at the sky. "Listen, I have a teacher, a really wise teacher who teaches a lot of people. He always tells us this, soldiers follow orders."

I raised an eyebrow at that, I was a huntress- er, ex-huntress-in-training. How am I compared to a soldier other than being a fighter.

"But heroes save lives."

I got that part, I wasn't just trying to be a huntress, I was trying to be a hero.

"You spared those Faunus and that's something a hero does," he stated and got up, looking at the sky again.

"Um, why are you looking at the sky a lot?" I asked and he looked down at me with confusion.

"Oh, um, well... Okay, I guess since you're not going to Beacon anymore, I can take you with me."

"Take me with you?"

"Yeah, that teacher I was talking about, I'm going to meet him now."

I had a surprised face on after that as I followed him. He started explaining how Ms. Goodwitch had assigned him to clean up the Emerald Forest after he had come back from a mission to fight off some bandits in the outskirts of a village. He followed the Nevermore to me which had come to me after feeling my hatred and anger. Right now, he was explaining how he was finally done and he could go back to his home. Apparently, he could have a break after he was done with his job and since the Nevermore was the last big Grimm he had to hunt, he was practically done. He said he had left a note on Ozpin's scroll and could leave now so that's why we were going.

I think it was an hour or two later after midnight that we were on the ruins I had been at for my initiation.

"So this is where you fought the Nevermore?" Aksel asked and I nodded as he looked the ruins over. "Impressive."

The ruins were more ruined now after the battle both mine and Jaune's teams had, but they were actually still pretty much standing.

"So what are we waiting for?" I asked as we sat down on the tallest ruin.

"Our ride," he murmured as the light of dawn peaked over the mountains on the far side of the Emerald Forest. "Would you look at that."

I obliged and smiled, seeing the beautiful sight. I was a pretty lazy person and I usually slept in when I could, but this time, I was actually up early... holy crap I haven't slept all day. I started to feel drowsiness from thinking about it and after a while, Aksel nudged me with his elbow.

"Hey, rides here," he spoke and I snapped my slowly closing eyes open to see a Bullhead flying in.

My ears opened up and I heard the loud roar of the engines as it descended, landing on the nearby cliff where Jaune and his team had fought the Deathstalker. I followed Aksel towards it, hesitantly trailing behind as I wondered who could be on it.

I looked back, hoping to see Beacon one last time before I got on the ship, but the cliff hid it. Not even the clock tower was showing and I took that as a sign. I guess I really wasn't meant to go to Beacon.

The side doors opened up to show a tall man, lean wearing robes with armor. A golden sort of crown going around his head, except it looked like two vines made of gold crisscrossing along the crown of his head, a sort of crown of vines.

"Celadon!" Aksel shouted in joy and rushed to meet what I assumed was his friend, but he slowed to a stop when he realized this Celadon guy held a cold look. "Celadon?"

"Hello Aksel," he spoke, his voice flat and cold, but having a hint of... sadness?

I looked closer at the man as I got closer, his armor was intricate, smooth with no corners. It was curved and sharp, but not sharp like jagged, sharp like a curved leaf. It was made out of some kind of golden metal, markings carved into it while the clothes underneath his armor was robes colored black or dark green. Then, I noticed the antlers coming out of his head, small, but noticeable.

He was a Faunus, a deer faunus.

"Celadon? What's wrong?" my new friend asked and he turned away.

"We came back from a mission," he answered as both Aksel and I boarded the bullhead. "Three of us went, only two are here, alive."

Aksel's eyes were wide, a hand over his mouth as he stumbled back into a metal wall. I felt sadness, a feeling some emotion and pity for them since they lost a probable friend.

"Who?"

"Adrianne," he stated and Aksel lowered his head, "she fought off the Creatures of Grimm long enough for us to regain our strength... unfortunately, we regained it to slowly."

"The sorceress deserves her rest," he said and looked at the sky for some reason.

I raised in eyebrow in confusion, but decided to let him have a bit of silence. Unfortunately, the moment I went to find a place to sit at I ran into the Celadon guy.

"Aksel, who is this?" he questioned, his mourning mood turning into an angry one.

"Oh, this is Ruby," he explained and gripped my shoulders, keeping me in place as he squatted behind me, "Ruby Rose."

"Rose?" Celadon gasped in shock and looked at the man behind me.

"Yes, Rose," Aksel breathed and suddenly felt uneasy as the two men stared in awe.

"Uh, is there something special about my last name?" I asked and Celadon turned around, heading to the cockpit, probably to talk to the pilot.

"Kiddo, you should probably get some rest," Aksel stated, and lightly hit my shoulder with the back of his hand in a playful manner, "I don't think you've slept all night."

He was right about that and so I laid down, resting my back against the metal wall. My eyes slowly closed and the last look I got of the bullhead was of Celadon and Aksel talking, giving me glances while murmuring something.

"He needs to see her."

* * *

><p><strong>Done<strong>

**Well I hope you liked this chapter**

**I'm sorry if the betrayal seems short or really brief, but it will be elaborated on throughout the story**

**More betraying content and heart wrenching moments to come too**

**So, I want to hear your guys' thoughts**

**I really want to know how this is going**

**Review, Favorite, and Follow**

**Give me pointers in any shape or form**

**I'll see ya,  
>Lord Revan Flame<strong>


	3. Royal Lineages

**Hey again guys**

**We're back**

**And now, the big chapter!**

**I want to thank Jacob Rickshaw and Tommy2486 for all the hard work in this chapter**

**They made a monumental piece of it which you will all discover in a moment**

**Now, this is what I've been waiting for**

**The introduction of**

**...**

**Well, that'd be spoilers**

**Now, come along all of you**

**Let's go!**

* * *

><p>"Ruby..."<p>

"Hm?" I murmured, my eyes still closed as I clutched my rose red cloak against me.

"Ruby..."

"Hm?" I murmured again, still trying to keep myself asleep.

"Ru- This isn't working. Ruby Wake Up!"

I squealed as I fell over, falling face first on the cold metal floor. I heard someone snickering and looked up to see a man in golden armor. He was holding back his laughter and I squinted my eyes at him, wondering who he was. Then it clicked.

"Aksel, right?" I asked and he nodded, putting his arm at his stomach and bowing like he did last night.

"Well a good morning onto you, Ms. Rose," he stated and helped me up, getting me on my feet. "We're almost to our destination."

"Destination?"

"Yes, want to see?" he asked and lead me to the cockpit where two people were.

The Celadon guy from last night was there and in the pilot's seat was a woman wearing a helmet with a visor running across the area that was where she could see. I guess it helped her pilot the bullhead since it didn't hinder her flying skills. The rest of her was donned in a simple Atlesian uniform meaning she either is or isn't an Atlesian officer.

"The kid awake?" the pilot asked and I perked up.

"Yo!" I spoke up and she nodded as she flew us through some clouds.

"Alright, we're nearing the Celestial Fortress," the pilot explained and I looked out from the cockpit's window to see only clouds.

A while passed, half an hour I think and by then we hadn't neared the ground yet. We kept going straight and I was getting pretty tired of staring at fluffy clouds.

"Um, where are we going?" I asked and Celadon looked down at me, his arms crossed and mouth still a straight line.

"We are approaching our home, the Celestial Fortress," the deer Faunus stated and pointed out the window. "There."

I looked out and saw nothing, but Aksel leaned in and smiled widely.

"We're here," my friend spoke and I squinted my eyes, not knowing what he was talking about until the clouds were moved apart by a giant wall colored steel grey.

The bullhead stopped slowly and began ascending as the bow got closer until we were above the clouds. I gasped, staring in shock as we approaching this giant fortress city that floated in a sea of clouds. The sun was shining brightly above in the sky while the clouds churned around the massive island of metal, stone, and other stuff. It was like the clouds were rings around it, forming a disc of white fluff that continually moved around it until, eventually, they went far enough out that they returned to normally roll across the skies.

The floating island had these high walls, about the size of two story buildings, maybe three that surrounded the giant floating city in a shape of a continent, a giant floating rock with an underbelly made of metal.

I could see a massive city beyond the walls, large towers and mighty buildings made of marble or metal of different variations. Homes dotted the entire paradise, a lot in the suburban looking area and a lot more in this wide open space full of rolling green hills and small villages or towns. It was like the outer ring of the floating marvel was just a peaceful, farmland while the inner section was like the cleaner streets and squares of Vale. Homes were made in hill like holes to live in, I could see the round doors and window outlined by wood in the green hills.

The whole place was so... beautiful.

"Whoa," I gasped and the three around me chuckled.

"This, this is the Celestial Fortress, the great kingdom of the empyrean lands, floating high above in the heavens surrounded by a sea of clouds," Celadon exclaimed with this big amount of pride. "Here we have lived for centuries, it's walls protecting, it's guardians holding peace, and its stories legendary. This is the realm everlasting."

"Everlasting?" I asked and Aksel lightly tapped my arm with the back of his hand to catch my attention.

"The Celestial Fortress has been around since the end of the royal lineages. It's been floating above the rest of the world like heaven."

Since the end of the royal lineages? That's like... a really, really long time ago, emphasis on both the "reallys". I looked back at the floating paradise.

With its large steel walls, the stone crust that it sat on, the metal underbelly that kept it from falling apart, and then the city that sat at its center. It wasn't like some kind of place with huge skyscrapers and train tracks, it was this metropolis about the size of Beacon... Beacon.

The pain of all those rumors and accusations, losing Weiss and Yang, almost everyone, it hurt. I shook my head, quickly wiping away my tears before anyone noticed, then looked back at the great sight. Large buildings standing tall and surrounded a giant, central tower looking thing. It jutted out from the very center of the place, almost like Beacon's clock tower, but instead of looking like a clock tower it had this really cool look.

Instead of the house that a clock tower would use to have its clock in, it had this large circular platform with an intricate pattern carved into it. The circular platform looked like some kind of white marble. Running around it was a bunch of pillars made of that same white marble stuff, just ringing it with a yet another white marble thing, a big ringing sitting on top of the pillars. It looked like one of those ancient civilizations around where Vale was today, what'd they call them... eh.

I squinted my eyes, trying to get a better look at it as we started to descend. Originally, we were pretty far from it, but only a little bit above so I could get a view of the open air building/temple/thing. Then, I saw something, a golden figure standing there at the center of the circle. I stared in confusion at him, but he or she did the creepiest thing. It was like they knew I was there because they looked at me, they just turned their head and I saw the flash of sunlight bounce of his or her armor as they looked up at me. I just knew they weren't looking at the bullhead, but at me.

I averted my gaze and looked down at below it, taking in the sight of the tower. I realized then, that the tower was actually a mountain, a thin one, but a tall mountain that had wide steps spiraling around it like a ribbon wrapped around the stone. Streams came out of the top structure and flowed down the mountain, passing under the steps like they were bridges. Overall, it was like some kind of serene, meditation place.

After a while, I realized we had gone underneath the mountain, landing in this port looking place. There were metal circles put down on the ground around this circular building, a little airport place. Other bullheads were landed on these metal platforms with people walking around them. The airport was a bit out in the green fields, surrounded by all that stuff with a river kinda ringing half of it then the other half was the rest of the building and then a short road leading to the city.

The bullhead landed with a soft thud and the doors opened. Aksel and Celadon stepped out, me following while the pilot woman stayed behind to check her ship.

"This way, Ruby," Aksel spoke and gestured at the road.

We walked past the airport, down the short road which carts and cars going down it. The city was surrounded by its own wall, smaller, but still strong looking with a large gate made of stone. Two figures were carved on the sides of the huge arch, two men wearing robes with their left hands holding swords that had their tips on the ground and their right hands outstretched in a stop gesture. The gate's doors were open, two giant slabs of steel intricately carved with hidden mechanisms inside of them to keep them locked.

"The city has three levels," my companion explained as we walked up a large set of stairs, at least wide enough for five people to walk on shoulder-to-shoulder, "the first levels is the market, all the trading happens here."

He pointed down at the stalls and shops open on wide streets, carts going around with cars driving on more secure streets without people walking on them. The stalls were more genuine than the ones in Vale, not made of metal, but made of wood with smiling, cheerful people handing out food in exchange for currency.

"The second level is residential, housing, the apartments and homes," he said and gestured at tall buildings standing with people playing on lawns and on empty streets.

The city was set up like a pyramid design, the first level was wide, the second was a little bit smaller so the outer ring of the first had sunlight, and the third was the same.

"The third level is recreational, all the parks and outdoor theaters and stuff like that. The amphitheater up there is where we're going," he stated and lead us up to the mountain at the center's base.

I looked up to see that marble temple thing from before up there, just really small. Patches of green grass were on small cliffs on the sides of it and steady streams of water trickled down the sides, tinkling into small ponds.

Eventually, we came to the amphitheater and it was huge. The stands only surrounded half of the big circular floor at the bottom, being at least fifteen seats high. It was carved out the same marble I'd seen everywhere else, but there were cushions for people to sit on. The whole amphitheater Sat on a cliff, the stands on the cliff while the circle floor at the bottom was at the very edge, looking over that side of the city like a big balcony.

"How many people can fit in this?" I asked as we walked down some steps to the bottom.

"A lot," Aksel stated with a smile as he approached a group of five standing together. "Hey!"

The five heads turned to look at us and one with long scarlet hair smiled brightly before running at us. The redhead girl jumped on Aksel, kissing him while crushing him in a bear hug.

"You're back!" she squealed in joy and he coughed in pain as she squeezed the air out of his lungs.

"Get off the poor lad," a short man in robes stated, arms crossed as he gave a frown.

The redhead pouted and jumped off, putting her hands behind her back as she balanced on the balls of her feet, really eager to hear from Aksel.

"Good to see you too, Angel," he greeted and she blushed, putting her head down to look at her feet as her cheeks turned as red as my cloak.

"Oh, lil' Mavis' blushin'," a man in an armored tunic chuckled and she shot him a glare, the red embarrassed look she had now an angry red one.

"Shut it, Balon," she threatened and he gave a hearty laugh before a man who looked just like him slapped his arm.

"Give her a break, brother," he ordered and his twin rolled his eyes, crossing his arms in an upset manner. "Aksel, who's that with you?"

I realized he was talking about me a little after looking around for who he was talking about. Aksel and every other head turned towards me and immediately he was behind me again, holding my shoulders.

"Oh!" he shouted in surprise and excitement while I gave a raised eyebrow.

"You say 'oh' a lot," I stated and the Mavis girl giggled.

"He sure does," she responded and her boyfriend shot a glare at her from behind me, I could tell by how she giggled some more.

"Well, everyone, I'd like you to meet Ruby Rose," he introduced and their mouths slowly dropped.

Crossed arms went to their sides in disbelief as their eyes grew wide. Some of them put their hands to their mouths in shock while the rest gave questioning looks.

"Are you sure?" the sterner twin asked and I felt Aksel nod from behind me before he unlatched from my shoulders. "Then you are welcome in our fold."

"W-wait, what? Fold?" I asked and he gave me a confused look before some kind of realization dawned on him.

"You don't know," he spoke in surprise, putting a hand to his bearded chin.

I shook my head hesitantly and that caused them to get in a small huddle, murmuring about something. When the broke apart, the first one to talk was the Mavis girl.

"Well, I guess you should know who we are first," she said and bowed her upper body. "I am Mavis Scarlet Vale the Fifty-Second."

"Wait, Vale?" I asked and she nodded with this amused smile kinda like Nora's. "Vale as in-"

"Queen Mavis Vale the First, my umpteenth great grandmother," she finished and explained in a simple tone, making me drop my mouth.

"That mean's your-"

"Royalty," Aksel finished and wrapped an arm around her waist, "my lovely princess girlfriend."

She blushed, but corrected him after putting her hand on his face to push him away, "Well, technically, I would be queen. Mom's been gone since I was ten."

He gave her a peck on the cheek and gestured at the twins, or I assumed they were twins. The stern one stepped up, his face holding a commanding expression on it. The other one kept on this smile like Nora's except it probably wasn't permanent.

"My name is Kalon Ferrum Atlas, son of Donovan Wolfram Atlas, son of Artemis Argentum Atlas, daughter of Chrysta Aurum Atlas, daughter of-"

"Oh, just get to the end already, ya pompous dunderhead," his twin interrupted and he sent a glare at him.

"Dunderhead? If anything you're the family fool, I honor our ancestry."

"So do I, by I don't wave it in everyone's faces like it's some big 'ole flag with great grandpappy's signature on it."

"Just introduce yourself," Kalon groaned in frustration and annoyance as his brother smirked.

"Name's Balon Cuprum Atlas," he stated in a flirty way with the over fancy bow and kissing my hand.

Everyone laughed when I rubbed his kiss on my skirt and when he frowned. Truthfully, I really wasn't into the romance stuff after what happened at Beacon. Anyways, Balon stepped back in line with his twin brother and Kalon explained some more.

"We are the descendants of Throrin Metallon Atlas, great Smithlord and King of the Forges," the more leader-like Atlesian stated with a proud and confident face.

The next person to step up was the short, older man with hair that was turning grey from brown strands.

"The name's Galin Vacuo, the eldest son of a Dust Sorcerer whose father was the same and his father before, all the way up to our ancestor, Arthuria Vacuo."

He spoke in a real casual voice, laid back with a playful tone to it. He gave me a grandfatherly smile before gesturing over to the last person in line.

"My ancestor was Hiro Mistral and my name is Ken Mistral," the man in eastern clothing simply stated, I think it was a happi?

I looked in awe and amazement, just staring at these five people. They were royalty, the umpteenth great grandkids of the four original founders of the four kingdoms. Mavis to Vale, Kalon and Balon to Atlas, Galin to Vacuo, and Ken to Mistral. I looked each of them over, each and everyone one of them.

Mavis was a tall, beautiful woman, well I'd say more hot than beautiful. She was like Pyrrha, but not looking all warrior like. Her hair was long, braided in a single, scarlet braid down her back. The Valean's eyes were like amethysts, purple and shining with joy, but also having a commanding glint. She wore a grey blouse with sleeves longer than her arms so her fingers poked out from them. A red, unzipped vest was over that and her legs were clad in jeans along with boots. She was lean, slim, all that stuff that made all the boys drool, kinda like Pyrrha, but her, uh... chest and bottom were a lot more... eye caching, not that I swung that way though. Her skin wasn't exactly pale, but it wasn't tanned either, more like in between... fair! That's it, she had fair skin. Behind her were two sheaths, both holding these twin swords, as far as I could tell.

Kalon and Balon were basically the same, both of them tall and muscular, except Kalon had more meat than Balon. Both of the Atlesian twins were tanned, splotches of black and grey ashes or soot were on where ever they had exposed skin except for their faces. Kalon wore a large fur cloak that was draped over his shoulders, a gold chain keeping it secured him. Under that was a tunic with metal chips shaped like rectangular hexagons sewn in it colored steel grey, making a kind of scale armor. It was really... uh, geometrical, all corners and no curves giving it a strong, resistant sort of look. An armored belt was wrapped around his waist, a metal piece at its center. His hair was long, colored coal black with a matching beard that ran across his lower jaw and up his chin, then over his mouth. His copper eyes weren't the only thing showing confidence though, he just overall gave off this air of authority. A sword was in a sheath on his back along with an... octagonal shield?

Balon was kinda the opposite of his twin brother, wearing a more casual version of the sterner twin's clothing. He had on a tunic too, but then a leather coat over that with an intricate pattern going across the rims of it, then embossed gauntlets and greaves made of some kind of dark grey metal. His hair was coal black as well plus the copper eyes, but his long hair didn't have a beard with it, instead just some stubble going across where Kalon's was. He had that mischievous twinkle in his eyes and the cheshire smile to send chills down his victim's spine. He was more all out on his weapon choice having two geometrically designed weapons, an axe and a hammer both strapped on his back.

Galin was more of an elderly man, his long fluffy beard and soft, combed back hair turning colors from a dark brown to a light grey nearing white. His pale face was kinda wrinkled, but he had that youthful, joyful twinkle in his diamond blue eyes. He kinda reminded me of a short santa, but he still had the pudgy bit. He was like a granddad, all jolly and old, but caring. He wore an indigo robe that hung around his body, but was tied around his waist with a belt full of different vials full of dust. A quarter staff was on his back, two metal pieces on the end with dust crystals showing from the ends like Weiss' rapier's dust.

Finally, I got to Ken who was basically like an older, muscular Ren. He was tall and lean, wearing that robe/happi/eastern clothes thing. It was colored white with red drawings of dragons on parts of it, giving it this really cool design. At his side was a long sheath, the hilt of a sword visible in it, but other than that he wore no other metal pieces. His hair was tied back into this tied up ponytail, colored a dark brown like cocoa beans, the same thing went with his eyes. His skin was tanned and his muscles were somewhat visible through the cloth.

"Remnant to Ruby, hello?" I heard as a pair of fingers snapped in my face.

I jumped and yelped, moving back about a foot causing a couple of them to stifle giggles or laughs while the rest either rolled their eyes or just smiled.

"You here, Ruby?" Aksel asked and I nodded to answer.

He smiled and put a hand on my shoulder, pointing at a set of stairs at the base of the tall mountain at the center of the city.

"That is where we must go," he stated and started to lead me when his girlfriend called out.

"Aksel! Wait," she spoke up and he turned around to see her with this morbid look. "Adrianne's funeral is tonight, it should be about started by the time you come down."

"Thanks," he smiled and started leading me again, both of us walking the wide, marble steps that spiraled around the tall mountain.

I listened to the sound of the water trickling down rocks, going underneath the marble steps we walked on and rushing downwards towards the crystal clear pools below. The rocks glinted in the sunlight, giving a really cool look along with the patches of green we passed, sometimes even whole cliffs with grass growing on them which we stepped on when the marble path took us there.

Eventually, we reached the top and by then the sun was setting. I gasped in awe as I looked at the entire place, watching the sun turn the white marble almost golden. The floor shaped like a circle had a ring on it, a pattern ringing a center symbol made of gold embedded in it. The tall pillars had figures of knights carved out of them or pictures of women in togas, vines wrapping them up which gave the place this ancient, beautiful look. At the center of the circular floor was the symbol of a shield, a kite shield with the symbols of all four kingdoms going down the middle of it in a line, a sword and shield in an 'X' pattern behind it.

Kneeling down on both knees sat the man in golden armor, his back to us and the stairs. He wore royal blue clothing underneath pieces of golden armor. His armor wasn't a full set, instead just a bunch of pieces put together, but not connected. It wasn't bulky, more streamline and looked like it gave him a lot more movement than it would have if it was a full set.

"Sir," Aksel called and he perked up, his head raising slightly.

From where we stood, it kinda looked like he was praying on his knees, his butt resting on his heels while his body was bent forward in an arch.

"I've come with-"

"Ruby Rose," he finished and my eyes went wide, how did he know my name? "Yes, I know, I saw you arrive, both with my power and my vision."

"Then you know how important it is she knows about her past," he responded and I gave him a confused look, my past?

"My past?" I asked and he looked down at me.

"Yeah," was all he said and turned back to the man in armor, stepping forward a bit. "Sir, she-"

"Is not welcome here!" Aksel's probably leader boomed and slowly rose up as we stepped back a bit in fear. "Leave, I will speak with her alone."

My friend nodded and turned to walk back down the stairs, but I grabbed his arm.

"W-wait!"

"Ruby, he won't hurt you or attack you, at least, he won't hurt you physically," he said with a frown and turned away, making me let go of his arm.

I shook in a bit of terror as he disappeared and left me alone with the man. I looked back at him to see the golden armored man slowly turning revealing an older man than I thought. He had tanned skin, but black hair going grey. He had no beard, just stubble running over his lower jaw, but none on his upper lip. Sharp features gave him a stern look full of authority and his frown did the same.

The armor he wore clanked as they hit each other, moving around as he walked towards me. A sword was strapped to his side, double sided from what I could tell from the sheath. When he was in front of me, I just shrunk even though I was already the size of a mice to him. He was tall, really tall, standing at probably Yatsuhashi's seven foot height. He was muscular under the armor and clothes, I could tell.

Then, his eyes... whoa, his eyes. I stared into them, these small orbs with no black pupil, just white surrounding a circle of everything. Stars shined in his eyes with all kinds of clouds of colors and worlds swirling around the stars. Small patches of dark nothingness, just void of everything, but black. It was like the universe was in his eyes with a light shining brightly at center being the pupil.

"You're eyes," I gasped and he blinked, but they didn't turn into anything else, just stayed like they were.

"Ruby Rose," he spoke and bent down to my level, on one knee with a hand on his other bent knee. "It seems fate has driven you here."

"What?"

"You were destined to learn of this, Ruby," he said and got up, turning around to walk over to the center of the circle where I noticed a sort of pedestal.

Getting in front of it, he pulled out his sword, the shimmering noise resounding off the marble pillars as he slid it into the pedestal. It was made out of gold or something and started to glow before a beam of energy shot out of the pummel of the sword, shooting straight up into the sky before spreading out to make a sphere. It had created a holographic image of Remnant, a whole holographic sculpture of it just hanging in the air. He jerked the sword up and thrust it back down, causing the energy beam to pulse and the world to suddenly unwrap to make a two dimensional map.

Pulling the sword out of the pedestal, he pointed it up towards the upper left of the map where the Draco continent sat. I remembered learning about that place, a mostly undiscovered continent with only two or three colonies ever established on it. Since it was so overrun with Grimm and natural, vicious wildlife, the four kingdoms have left it untouched. A bright light began fading into existence on the Draco continent at the "dragon's" chest. The whole continent was named after the upper part of it where a mass of land looked like a dragon, a long head with horns and giant wings.

"We are here," he stated and I raised an eyebrow, tilting my head.

"We're in, er- over the Draco continent?"

"Yes," he simply put it and pulled his sword in front of him, the tip of the blade tapping the ground as he set it down, "sometime later we may be over the continent of Vytal, near the city of Vale."

"What?"

He had on this small, amused smile now, his angry expression gone.

"For sometime the Celestial Fortress has remained a floating paradise, free of the troubles of the world below," he explained and went back to the pedestal to slide his sword back into it. When he did, the map turned into an blurry, fuzzy image that turned into a sky view of a large castle with a town around it. "Originally, the Celestial Fortress was the Knights Haven, located in between Vacuo and Vale on Vytal, but we raised it from the ground."

"How did you do that?" I marveled and he changed the image with his sword to a blueprint with a side view of the floating paradise.

"The metal plating underneath the Celestial Fortress keeps it protected and stops any falling rocks from plummeting downwards," he stated and I nodded in understanding as a little animation of some boulders coming off a giant upside down mountain from underneath the hit the metal hull's interior. "Thousands of years ago, near five millenia, we utilized the natural dust deposits below our land and created and anti-gravity effect, ascending us high into the clouds."

"Why would you do that though?" I asked and a sad expression crossed his face.

"It was time for us to disappear," he stated and the blueprint changed to a playing image of the entire piece of the continent rising out of the ground, stone rising up and falling down, dirt pouring everywhere, etcetera, etcetera. "The royal lineages left with us and we allowed Remnant to rule itself, our time as its guardians was over."

"Remnant's guardians?"

"Yes, Ruby Rose," he replied and turned towards me, setting the tip of the blade back on the ground as both his hands gripped the handle of the sword. "We are the Knights of Remnant, the precursors and forerunners of the huntsmen and huntresses that protect our world this day."

"Whoa," was all I could say as I gasped, seeing the video fizzle into a new one, this time showing a big chamber with men and women in armor, holding all kinds of weapons while a man in gold armor stood at the end of the chamber before a large statue of a knight with his sword down, the same pose that the guy in front of me was in. "Wait, is that you?"

I pointed at the golden armored man and he shook his head, answering with a "no".

"That would be my ancestor," he said and slid his sword back into the podium, leaving it in there this time. "For generations, my family has lead the Knights of Remnant, each one named Overseer."

"Overseer?"

"It is our semblance," he replied, pointing at his universe eyes, "this power allows us sight without limit."

"Um, what?"

"In more simple terms," he said and looked up at the sky, now dark with stars shining in them, "I can see everything, for a time of course."

"Wait, you can see everything?" I asked, thinking about looking at everyone and everything.

"Yes, every living being, every inanimate object, every Human, Faunus, Grimm, and animal, and everything they are doing," he stated and I turned red at thinking if he could see inappropriate stuff.

"Can you see-"

"Things I am not suppose to?" he asked, his face not even turning red, "such as two lovers in bed or secret activities, yes, but I will not share those secrets."

"So you took an oath?"

"No," he answered, his voice full of power as he said it, "I have taken no oath nor a promise."

"But, how can people trust you?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow with a finger pointing at him.

"Because they no I trust myself," he replied in a simple voice. "I take no oath because with power such as this, taking an oath is a sign of weakness. To take an oath like this would show you do not trust yourself with this power, but I do and so do all who know me."

My mouth slowly opened and dropped as I looked at him, not seeing the scary figure from before, but now a strong, commanding figure. He was like Ozpin, but clad in armor and ready for any battle to come.

"Now, I would suggest you leave for the funeral," he stated and went to his sword, pulling it out of the pedestal before sliding it back into its sheath at his side, "it would be fairly disrespectful for you to miss it."

"Oh!" I yelped and turned around to get down the steps, but remembered one last thing. "Wait, why does everyone know my last name?"

He turned to look at me, that sad expression back, but then it turned into a sad, weary smile.

"Because Ruby Rose, daughter of Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao Long," he spoke with a voice full of a kind of weary joy, "your mother was a knight."

My eyes widened as he waved his hand at me, gesturing me to leave.

"Go on now, we will speak again. For now you may stay," he stated, the harsh coldness in his voice back.

* * *

><p>The sky was now a dark blue, midnight blue I think with the broken moon shining. The steps glowed with the moonlight, making the mountain even more beautiful. When I reached the bottom of the steps behind the amphitheater, I walked towards the crowd of people. They sat on the different levels, all staring at a funeral pyre. They weren't dressed in black or white, but in regular, every day clothes. However, they held candles in their hands, cupping them as they sat in different containers.<p>

Aksel stood next to his girlfriend, Mavis, both of them with the rest of the royalties plus a few more, I guess more royalties? There was a young woman next to Balin, her hair short and colored brown like stone and a smaller girl about my age next to Mavis, her scarlet hair tied into a pony tail. I moved down the stairs, red faced as I passed people before eventually being next to Aksel and Mavis. They gave me a smile and looked back at the funeral pyre as Kalon stepped up, a torch in hand.

"We honor you, Adrianne Felsword, daughter of Dramien Felsword and Mayla Felsword and Remnant Knight," Kalon spoke, naming off the woman and her titles before setting the torch's flame against the pyre.

It lit, small sparks fluttering into the skies as flames flickered. The crackling was loud as everyone remained silent, the only noises being shuffling and some sobs. People just stared and sat, frozen in shock at seeing the death. I just stood there next to the rightful kings and queens and princes and princes of the four kingdoms. I was an outsider just watching. I didn't want to move and interrupt the funeral, I didn't want to disrespect the people who rescued me from... Beacon.

The memories rushed back in now that I wasn't doing anything, Weiss and Yang yelling at me, people jeering at me, hearing rumors, seeing the disgusted voices, the trial...

My train of thought faded away as I heard something, a hum. I cautiously looked behind me to see everyone staring, slowly moving as they hummed a slow tune. It was soft, but with a rumble as everyone hummed while staring at the funeral pyre burning.

_Far across... lands of endless war..._

I blinked, my ears catching a voice, soft and melodic... angelic. I looked over to see Mavis no longer leaning on Aksel, now standing by herself before the fire. She was silhouette, dark against the bright flames, but her figure was like an angel as she stood there.

_In mountains grand and kingdoms torn..._

It took me a while to realize the angelic voice was coming from Mavis. She was singing softly and slowly. Her voice wasn't sad though, not exactly. It was... well, it had this despairing tone to it like she was sad over something else. Her lips moved as she stared blankly at the fiery tongues licking the air, purple eyes watching with gloom.

_Stand firm four knights, prepared to fight..._

She stressed words, stretching them and giving them emotion. People continued humming, their voices making me think the entire floating continent was shaking. No one's eyes moved, they only blinked and kept on looking directly at the funeral pyre.

_Hold their ground 'fore kingdom's store..._

At the end of every verse she trailed off, leaving it without an end before coming back. I kept standing there, listening to the voice of an angel as hundreds of people shook stone with their humming.

Suddenly, Ken stepped up, the flames bouncing light off his white cloth.

_Sir Mistral, the noble spirit knight..._

His voice was strong, but it wasn't hard like stone, instead molding like clay. He stood tall, composed, and holding an air of honor around him as if he were superior. His lips moved as he held his small frown, singing as Mavis went silent.

_Lord Atlas, filled with power and might..._

Kalon and Balon sang, the former's voice deep and strong while the latter's was only a bit lighter, but still shook me to my soul. Ken had silenced like Mavis, both of them waiting for the twins to speak their ancestor's name.

_Vacuo strong, with ballad song..._

Galin sang with the woman next to him, both of them singing without happiness, but with despair like the rest. His voice was filled with longing as he stood there, short and squat, but having the grandfatherly look mixed with a sad expression. I felt sorry for them, but I didn't know what I felt sorry about.

_Lady Vale, to set wrong right..._

Mavis had returned to sing again, her melodic, angel-like voice filling the air, but she wasn't the only one this time. The girl next to her that looked like a teenage version of her was singing with her now. Both of them spoke their umpteenth great grandmother's name with that mourning emotion.

_Remnant's Greats these knights do be, _  
><em>Protecting their wise and noble King.<em>

I jumped as hundreds of voices joined in, all of them singing together without a crack or a break. I didn't hear any loud gasps for breath or anyone ruin the choir of voices singing. Most people continued humming, but now a lot of them were singing with voices that didn't crack or break.

_Darkened eyes do see the light, _  
><em>the King foretells what Fate will bring.<em>  
><em>Spawn of hell, shroud in misty dark, <em>  
><em>Armor bone, eyes of demon spark, <em>  
><em>A blade of white steeled to fight; <em>  
><em>This monster draws to fearful hearts.<em>

The voices stopped and Ken stepped up again to sing.

_Mistral draws, but is crushed beneath..._

The Atlas twins began their verse, singing together with expressions of reminiscing.

_Atlas strikes, but is found too weak..._

Galin and the woman sung alone again, both of them almost on the edge of tears, but they kept their voices strong.

_Vacuo shouts, then thrust out..._

Mavis and the teenager raised their angelic voices, singing with eyes full of sorrow.

_Vale driven low to her knees..._

Everyone kept staring at the funeral pyre as if their gazes were permanently stuck on it. Most people hummed, but a few sung in deep voices full of rumbling power or melodic voices full of soothing power.

_Now comes the King staring far ahead._  
><em>The monster nears drawing to an end.<em>  
><em>His blade is raised, the victim prays.<em>  
><em>With flash of white their King is dead.<em>

I felt a pair of eyes on me and turned around hesitantly. No one was staring at me, everyone in the crowd was still looking directly at the fire. Then, then I looked up to see a figure standing at the top of the mountain. Large braziers I didn't notice before on the mountain top lit it bright orange with flickering flames. I could see the gleam of the golden armor and knew he was staring at me. Then, he calmly turned and walked out of my sight, farther into the mountaintop temple thing.

_Anger rise, let blood begin to boil, _  
><em>let vengeance cry, and red soak the soil.<em>  
><em>Four arcing swords and it lives no more, <em>  
><em>the beast defeated and darkness foiled.<em>

Their voices had drawn into ones of hate and anger, but they went on with melodic and rumbling tones. I could tell from their faces that this song wasn't just a song, it was something more. Their faces of sorrow turned into faces of longing, then into faces of anger before going back to being sad.

_The knights draw near, their king now gone_  
><em>tears are shed, sing ballad song<em>  
><em>His final breath, whispered in death<em>  
><em>"Please give my kingdom to the strong"<em>

Mavis sang alone again, singing the first line that was the first verse of the song repeated.

_Far across lands of endless war.._

However, the rest of the royalties joined in, singing together in a united voice of power, a voice of authority, a voice that made me want to follow them into battle. I felt courage and pride rise up in me, but when they finished, it disappeared.

_In mountains grand and kingdoms torn, _  
><em>Stand tall four kings who wait for he, <em>  
><em>the one to claim be King once more.<em>

It was then that I noticed the lights below the cliff, past the railing cutting off the amphitheater's edge. There was a crowd below, a crowd made of every single soul on this floating paradise. They had their own candles and lanterns in hand, watching from below and humming and singing.

"Adrianne Felsword, thus kindly we scatter," Aksel spoke and a sudden gust of wind took the ashes. "May the winds take you to the heavens higher than the one on which we stand."

With that, everything was back to dead silent until people began getting up. The sound of shuffling and silent sobs slowly disappeared as everyone began leaving. When it was only me and the royalties here, I turned to look at my friend.

"What was that?" I asked and Aksel look down.

"That, was our order's story," he answered and looked at the pyre, the fire now dying out as the ashes were done. "The way the four kingdoms were founded was when the four founders killed a rogue knight. He attempted to use an ancient power to try and destroy the world, then rebuild it in his image. We all know it as the First Great War, you guys know it as the Dark War."

"But the Great War was like... four centuries ago! Not five thousand years!"

"No, that Great War was lead by the followers and descendants of those who fought in the first," Galin stated as he walked over to me. "The dark leader of the First Great War was Azduil, the one who lead the Second Great War was far worse, however."

"What?" I asked and the woman with Galin stepped forward.

"Four centuries ago, Azduil's descendant, Azuil the Eradicator rose up to bring his twisted view of order into our world," she spoke and bowed slightly to me. "I am Falora Vacuo, Galin's younger sister."

"Um, hi," I greeted and she smiled before moving back to stand next to her sibling. "So, there were two great wars?"

They all nodded and looked up at the mountaintop where I noticed a glint of gold disappear.

"So, what'd he say?" Aksel asked and I shrugged.

"Well, he told me the history of this place and..."

"He told you of your mother's allegiance to our order," Kalon finished and I nodded with surprise. "She was one of the best of us, a hero and a role model."

"Man," Mavis said with a sad smile, "I remember always looking up to her. Your mom was like a superhero Ruby."

"Th-thanks," I stammered while blushing a big, goofy grin on my face.

"Oh!" Mavis shouted and grabbed the girl next to her, "come on! Introduce yourself!"

"But sis," she whined and Mavis gave her a 'really?' look. "Fine."

She was just like her, apparently, big sister, but instead of all the joy and happiness that Mavis had on, she had on a nervous expression. Her scarlet hair was cut short, bangs combed to the sides of her face while the rest went down to curve around her neck. The teenager's skin was paler than Mavis', but her amethyst eyes were the same except they had nervousness in them.

"Hi, I'm Ruby."

I started off the introductions, outstretching hand which she cautiously stared at. She had her hands clasped together on her chest, but she slowly moved one out to grab mine.

"M-mavis Crimson Vale the Fifty-Third," she introduced and I shook it, giving her a bright smile.

She blushed and took her hand away while Mavis smirked.

"Oh come on, lil' sis, you gotta be more social than that," the older Vale snickered while nudging her sister with her elbow.

The younger Vale slapped away her sister's elbow in a comical way making the rest of the group laugh. Aksel pulled the older Mavis away and told her to stop before turning to Ruby.

"So, Ruby. If you need a place to stay, the Vales would be happy to help you," he stated and Mavis S gave her a wide smile and a nod while Mavis C sheepishly smiled with the nod.

"We got a spare room for you," the elder sibling stated and grabbed he sister's shoulders. "Ain't that right, Mavis?"

"Yes, Mavis," she groaned and Ruby stifled a giggle.

"Well, that ends this night," Balon spoke as he watched the stars shine. "Come along, brother. Weapons won't forge themselves and the wives will be cold in bed without us."

Kalon put a frustrated hand on his face as we turned red faced from hearing Balon. He pushed his brother forward and the two headed for where ever they were going.

"Night to you," Galin said and left with his sister to their home.

"I bid you farewell 'till the next morning," Ken spoke and left himself leaving me to follow Aksel, Mavis, and Mavis.

* * *

><p>Standing atop the mountain stood the Overseer, clad in his golden armor and royal blue clothes. It was near time he retreat to his own bed, but before that he would take one last look at the world. Putting a hand up in front of him, he straightened his index and middle finger, almost as if using them to precisely aim. He closed his eyes and opened them, both orbs glowing with power as he looked beyond his human barriers, as he looked at every current event.<p>

"She loves me, she loves me not, she loves me, she loves me- Argh, why do you have to make this frustrating!" Mavis Crimson Vale the Fifty-Third groaned as she sat on the windowsill of he bedroom, picking the petals off a flower. "Dang it, sis!"

He smirked, seeing the younger Vale sister in her frustrated state. Not many knew she swung the other way and Ruby most definitely did not know of that fact nor the fact that the younger Vale sibling had developed a crush on her. At the same exact time, he also viewed the older Vale sister, finding her with her lover.

"You have protection, right?" Mavis Scarlet Vale the Fifty Second asked as she pulled off her vest. Aksel nodded, his face red as they undressed, watching her drop her clothes. "Good, but we gotta be more quiet this time with Ruby here."

He rolled his eyes at that, but not only that. He rolled his eyes constantly when he did this. All the time he would see some dunderhead antic or hilarious action that caused him to chuckle. However, other times he remained silent with a stern face, seeing the terrible deeds in the world.

Deep in the Celestial Fortress, within the mountain that he stood upon the Atlas brothers worked in the forges. A group of eight smiths with Balon at the lead slamming their hammers down on a heated slab of metal, the ringing like a set of bells. Kalon raised his own slab of heated metal up into the air elsewhere in the forge and two massive hammers of steel fell down, slamming against the slab burning bright orange, shaping it with two smooth sides. Sparks showered, molten metal was poured, soot was brushed, and weapons and armors were forged.

The Vacuo siblings had prepared themselves for bed, dressing in their sleeping wear. Galin checked his dust storage for any missing or vials, but found none. Falora kissed her husband and pulled the covers over herself, quickly falling into slumber.

Ken Mistral stayed up, practicing his fighting in the moonlight. Whilst standing on a stone in the center of a pond, he swung his oriental sword. The light of the broken natural satellite making the finely forged hard steel blade glow as he cut the sticks of bamboos clean through.

He smiled as he looked upon the girl who brushed her teeth and dressed for bed. Ruby Rose was a special subject to him, a very special one. He had known Summer Rose, known her all to well as she swung her scythe before him and bowed to him out of respect. She was a good friend and a skilled pupil, but times had been cut short and her disappearance brought him to close the borders around him.

When he saw Ruby sit on her bed and start to cry he remembered what he had seen before. At the same time across the world, Beacon Academy was in an uproar. Ozpin watched from the top of his tower as the students of his beloved school argued and fight. Blake Belladonna had requested a team transfer as Weiss Schnee was next in line to inherit command of the team. Yang Xiao Long was unstable, her mind cross as she tried to find a way that her little sister was innocent, but all the facts and "evidence" proved the rumors true.

Jaune Arc sat in bed, looking down in despair as Pyrrha comforted him. It was true that Pyrrha had a crush on the blonde klutz, but she respected his own crush on the former leader of Team RWBY. After her disappearance, he confessed the crush to Pyrrha and she had accepted it, although she felt pain at losing her crush. But, if there was one Jaune Arc in the world, if there was one boy so quirky that he would not think her out of his league, perhaps there was another. Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren were silent for once, the former was not joyfully cheering and the latter was not calming her down.

The rest of Beacon seemed relieved at hearing that the Rose girl had disappeared, therefore taking away some of the slander on their school. Their rumors, however, had been lies, lies forged by the jealous. Overseer watched with anger as they celebrated or slept without guilt.

His vision did not stop at Beacon, though. As he saw everything, he saw the elder Vale sibling and her boyfriend make love and the headmaster of Beacon Academy listen to the ranting of the high councilmen. He had never taken an oath to not share these secrets because he trusted himself with the power that he was born with. It was his forefathers who fought the long, hard battles, his ancestor who slew Azduil, and it was his ancestor who raised the Celestial Fortress from Remnant.

Suddenly, he gasped, his eyes growing wide as he viewed black nothingness.

"Darkness," he mumbled as he blinked, his semblance deactivated and his sight returned to normal, "darkness clouds my vision."

* * *

><p><strong>Well there you go folks<strong>

**The third chapter**

**I hope you liked this one**

**Now Ruby will be having her adventures across the world**

**The Celestial Fortress will basically be her new home like Magnus was for her in The Girl Who Ran**

**If you did not like the mentions of lemons with Mavis and Aksel, sorry**

**Kinda gonna put those in just because...**

**Yeah**

**So, also**

**I would like to know what you guys want for a pairing**

**Ruby with Jaune**

**or**

**Ruby with Mavis the Fifty-Third**

**I decided to make it a bit mixed up now**

**We'll see the world turn upside down**

**Plot twists that will wrench hearts and make tears pour**

**We will see our beloved characters fall or ascend**

**This new story**

**It is a story I will enjoy writing**

**Also**

**Once more, I want to give my greatest thanks to **Jacob Rickshaw and Tommy2486 for all the hard work on the song sung by the citizens of the Celestial Fortress****

****Here's the whole, uncut version for you guys as well****

Far across lands of endless war,  
>In mountains grand and kingdoms torn,<br>Stand firm four knights, prepared to fight,  
>Hold their ground 'fore kingdom's store.<br>Sir Mistral, the noble spirit knight;  
>Lord Atlas, filled with power and might;<br>Vacuo strong, with ballad song;  
>Lady Vale, to set wrong right.<br>Remnant's Greats these knights do be,  
>Protecting their wise and noble King.<br>Darkened eyes do see the light,  
>the King foretells what Fate will bring.<br>Spawn of hell, shroud in misty dark,  
>Armor bone, eyes of demon spark,<br>A blade of white steeled to fight;  
>This monster draws to fearful hearts.<br>Mistral draws, but is crushed beneath;  
>Atlas strikes, but is found too weak;<br>Vacuo shouts, then thrust out;  
>Vale driven low to her knees.<br>Now comes the King staring far ahead.  
>The monster nears drawing to an end.<br>His blade is raised, the victim prays.  
>With flash of white their King is dead.<br>Anger rise, let blood begin to boil,  
>let vengeance cry, and red soak the soil.<br>Four arcing swords and it lives no more,  
>the beast defeated and darkness foiled.<br>The knights draw near, their king now gone  
>tears are shed, sing ballad song<br>His final breath, whispered in death  
>"Please give my kingdom to the strong"<br>Far across lands of endless war,  
>In mountains grand and kingdoms torn,<br>Stand tall four kings who wait for he,  
>the one to claim be King once more.<p>

**So**

**I hear from them that they'll be making a video of the song being sung**

**So I'm looking forward to that**

**When they release the video or whatever, I will inform you guys because I expect it to be just awesome**

**Remember my friends**

**Review, Favorite, and Follow**

**Sincerely,  
>Lord Revan Flame<strong>


	4. The Grand Tour

**Hello once more**

**Welcome back all you guys**

**Here is our next chapter**

**The chapter 3**

**Chapter 4 with the prologue being chapter 1**

**So**

**With those reviews I got**

**And the idea I've taken in**

**Plus some people who hate JaunexRuby**

**I've decided on the RubyxOC**

**aka**

**Ruby and Mavis**

**Let's call her Crimson**

**Cause its easier to differentiate between both Vale sisters**

**Now**

**Let's begin**

* * *

><p>"Mm," I mumbled as I fluttered my eyes open.<p>

Beams of sunlight were shining through the window and onto my white bed sheets... wait a second, white bed sheets? I tossed them off me and found myself in a room full of different furniture and this one bed. This wasn't my dorm room with... my team.

Yang, I guess she just couldn't handle the rumors after all that time. Weiss... she must've still had some hate or something against me. Then Blake, the only person who was with me. Then there was JNPR, Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren. I guess Team CFVY was with me too and also Sun and Neptune, but the rest of the academy...

"Hello!"

I perked up at the voice and looked at the door as someone knocked on it. I got out of the bed, looking down at the pajamas on me. They weren't mine, they were... something about Vale. I opened the door and came face to face with a redhead teen around my age.

"H-hi," she said, her cheeks kinda red and I also turned red, kinda embarrassed.

"Hi," I greeted back and looked down at my pajamas, "these are yours right?"

"Yeah, I let you borrow them," she murmured and pointed down the hall. "We washed your clothes, they're in the bathroom so you can clean up."

"Thanks, uh..." I trailed off, face getting redder as I forgot what her name was.

"Mavis," she said with a friendly smile, "Mavis Crimson Vale the Fifty-Third."

"Okaaaaaaaaaa..." I trailed off again as I remembered everything.

Yesterday, the floating continent, er- Celestial Fortress, the four founders, the Overseer, and... mom. My mom, Summer Rose was one of them! Before I knew it, Mavis was gone and I was alone. I decided to go ahead with what she said and walked down to the bathroom. After a pretty long shower and drying myself off, I got into my cleaned up clothes.

When I walked downstairs from their two story house, I found Mavis eating some cereal with, uh... older Mavis kissing Aksel.

"Ahem," I coughed and the three noticed me.

"Oh!" Aksel said and got off his girlfriend, both of them blushing furiously. "Hi Ruby!"

"Um, hi," I said and all three occupants of the room were red.

"So... you wanna get a tour of the inner city?" Older Mavis or Mavis Scarlet Vale the Fifty-Second asked and I shrugged.

They poured me a bowl of cereal and waited for me to eat it before leading me out of their house. They had this small house in the inner city on the second level, right on the edge of the second level. They lead me down streets, introduced me to people, bought me some food, and stuff.

Eventually, we came to the mountain's base at the very bottom of it, on the first level. A massive threshold stood in front of us, made of stone with an intricate architecture which I was pretty sure was for fending off invaders. Guards lined the ramparts of the threshold, holding weapons and dressed in armor similar to the ones Kalon and Balon wore, but with a full set. We walked in, the guards moving aside for the Vale sisters as we went inside.

I was amazed at what I saw within the mountain. Instead of some big chamber, it was a massive chamber. The ground wasn't flat, it descended so far down that the bottom had people who looked like ants. There were bridges crisscrossing the pit, people walking across them. It wasn't a mess of them though, they were specifically designed to allow people to see the places below. Enormous columns kept the roof of the cavern from collapsing while wires hung people in straps who mined out veins of gold in the stone.

Down below people were forging weapons and armor or doing something else with precious gems and crystals. Dust was being refined or studied in other places and... well, there wasn't much to say, but awesome!

"Welcome to the Empyrean Forges," Older Mavis stated and moved her arm to move my gaze. "This is where the Atlas twins spend most of their time."

"Really?"

"Yeah, they're over there," she said and pointed down a bridge to where several men and women were hammering down a slab of metal on a burning coal pile.

We walked towards them, watching as one person swung their hammer down, then the next, then the next, and then onwards in a loop. It was like hearing bells go off, all of them swinging with power, but not to much power. The metal was slowly getting molded down having already been heated up so it was glowing bright orange.

"Hey Balon!"

The Atlesian turned his head towards us and grinned, setting his hammer down to walk towards us.

"Why hello there!" he greeted with a bright smile, holding his arm out wide. "What brings you lovely ladies and fine gentleman here?"

"Just giving Ruby a tour," Younger Mavis said, her hands behind her back in a polite manner.

"Oh, well then, come here and watch us forge like the smithlords we are," he invited and walked back to the forgers, gripping his hammer. "Come on boys, put on a show!"

They started hammering again, going around counterclockwise to hammer down the heated metal. Each one made a loud ringing sound from hitting the metal, some sparks flying every time they connected. The group of forgers continued molding the metal and from what I could assume, it was stubborn, even when heated as they kept striking it. Over time, they eventually got done and Balon took it in a gloved hand, placing it on a slide that sent it downwards on an intricate system to the lower levels.

"Whoa," was all I could speak and the forgers all laughed, happy to see someone in awe.

"Yeah, it is pretty impressive," one of them said and slapped another on the back. "Come on, I haven't had breakfast yet."

A few of them left and the rest got ready to pound another piece of metal. Balon stayed and talked to us, acting more casual than flirty this time.

"Where's Kalon?" I asked and Aksel looked around.

"Down there," he answered, pointing to the sterner Atlas twin who was hammering a metal slab of his own alone. "Oh! And before I forget."

He pulled out an all to familiar collapsed metal off a table, rose red and pitch black.

"My sweetheart!" I shouted and grabbed her, holding he tight in my arms.

"Sweetheart huh?" Mavis S asked and Mavis C was blushing a bit for some reason.

"Y-yeah, I built her myself," I said and the forgers that heard perked up.

"You built that fine piece of weaponry with yer own hands? Impressive," the Atlesian twin praised and looked down at the lower levels. "Now on you go, Kalon is finishing the metal piece we were working on. You'll want to see the process."

"Come on!" Mavis shouted, well both Vale twins did and jumped off the bridge.

"Whoa!" I screamed, but Aksel held me back from diving after them.

"Whoa whoa whoa, slow down and watch," he chuckled and my eyes went wide when pairs of golden angel wings appeared on their backs, slowing down their descent. "That's their semblance, it's why their family is known for being 'angels of death'."

We took our own way down, the stairs, and met them at Kalon. He hammered the metal slab repeatedly, swinging the metal tool down on the bright orange... uh, metal.

"Hey Kalon!" Mavis S. called and he looked up.

"Oh, it's you," he said with a bored expression and went back to hammering.

She put on a pout with narrowed eyes and Aksel put an arm around her waist to cheer her up.

"Hey Kalon, we were showing Ruby around the Empyrean Forge!" the other man shouted and the twin looked up.

"Well, then she may gaze upon this," he stated and pulled up his arm, holding the heated metal slab in his gloved hand.

Suddenly, two massive, hard steel hammers came down. They smashed together against the material and a shower of sparks shot out. The golden colored metal was flatter now, the sides completely smooth from the strikes.

"Whoa!" I shouted, in total awe from that.

"Yes, these forges are impressive," he said, a small smirk on his face, "it was my ancestor who created them as a replacement for the Cosmic Forges of Atlas."

"Cosmic Forges?"

"Yes, an ancient workplace for the greatest of blacksmiths. We believed that the very cosmic essence of the universe came down upon that mountain forge and empowered our weapons and armor. While there is no proof of that, the most famous of crafts did come from there, however," he explained with pride and everyone around me chuckled.

"That's Kalon for you, always gloating about his family's history."

"Not just my family," the Atlesian stated and pointed at Older Mavis, "let us not forget how your great grandmother was a seductress."

"Hey, she only slept with like..." Mavis trailed off, counting her fingers and Younger Mavis was face-palming while Aksel was doing the same.

"We get it," Younger Mavis groaned and nudged her sister, "but to be fair it wasn't her fault none of them were good husbands."

"All but one," Kalon said with a smirk and went back to hammering. "If you wish to show Ms. Rose something, take her to the training grounds. Ken should be lecturing the new batch."

They contemplated on that while I raised an eyebrow, tilting my head in confusion.

"New batch?"

"The new recruits to the knights," Aksel explained and I mouthed an 'o'.

With that, I was lead out of the forges towards the city walls. We passed through those giant gates and walked past the giant stone figures jutting out of it, their hands up to say 'stop'. Walking down long paths filled with patches of trees and benches to sit at, I looked around, admiring the view. The city was slightly elevated on a hill which just gave me a really cool look at the rest of the place. The outer areas of the flying continent had those small towns either in large wooden buildings or dug into the hills.

Eventually, we came to this sort of pit area with a bunch of buildings and a lot of people in rows. They stood still as men or women walked around them, shouting orders. My friends had smiles on their faces, probably remembering when they were here.

"Come on," Mavis S. shouted and started walking.

We followed her, moving down a path into the pit to get to the training area.

I spotted Ken Mistral, walking around three lines of recruits, eight in each. His left hand rested on the side of his sheath while his right hand was sitting on the end of the handle as if he was going to pull it out at any moment.

"When we formed the Knights of Remnant, we swore an oath!" he shouted in a voice of authority and they straightened up.

"Defend the people with shields raised and blades back!" they followed, yelling into the air the oath, I guess.

"Upon the blood of our fathers..." he spoke and eyed them, watching for anyone who would break the pose they were in. "Upon the blood of our sons, we swore to uphold the our oath!"

"Until our dying breath!"

"Until, you finally fall, for when that time comes you are free of the weight of your oath," the Mistralian continued and they all nodded in sync. "Any who would break this oath or go against it are heretics."

"Heretics," I breathed, remembering the council meeting about me.

"They are neither worthy of pity, but are worthy of mercy! Shall they deny their second chance, then let them fall!" Ken finished and the soldiers began again.

"We shall grind them into dust and scrape them as excrement from our boots!" they all cried out and Ken nodded, his mouth in a line, but I could see satisfaction on his face.

"Then we shall continue our duty to defend the people!"

They cheered, breaking formation, but Ken seemed to like it as he smiled. His eyes moved to us and he motioned with his head to step forward. We did and he greeted us by putting his fist in an open palm, bowing slightly.

"Greetings," he spoke and we either waved or said 'hi'.

"Hey Ken, so we thought we'd show Ruby around before she has to go-"

"Wait, before I go?" I said, confused and she raised an eyebrow.

Mavis C nudged me with her shoulder and I looked over at her.

"Overseer only wants you here for today, but then we have to take you back to Vale," she said, looking down and my eyes widened.

"But, my mom was one of you guys! W-why do I have to go?"

"Because she _was_ one of us," Aksel answered, looking at me with somber eyes. "She was one of his student and... well, I guess it brings up a lot of painful memories."

He was rubbing the back of his neck out of embarrassment as his cheeks were red. Everyone looked awkward and probably felt awkward at telling me I actually couldn't stay on this paradise.

"But, but, where am I suppose to go!" I yelled, just afraid now. "I can't go back to Beacon, everyone hates me and my dad... I don't even know what he thinks of me! What if he's ashamed or-"

"Ruby!" Ken shouted with disapproval and I shut up, watching him step towards me. "Frantic blabbering will not help you. Training your thoughts, however, shall."

I slowly nodded and he stepped back, leaving me to just stand there in front of them, red faced and in my thoughts.

"What do I do?" I mumbled, but Aksel came up to me, grabbing my shoulders.

"Well I could get you a place in a town on the island outside of Vale's harbor," he suggested and I felt my lip tug, making a small smile.

"Thanks," I replied and he flashed one of his smiles before looking at the city.

"By now, I'd expect Overseer wants to speak with you."

I nodded with a bit of gloom and they started leading me to the mountain. By now, the sun was up and high in the sky, but I didn't feel a lot of heat or any cold, harsh winds. That brought up a question in my head.

"So, um, guys," I called and all three heads turned to me. "Is there like an invisible shield that keeps the wind from pushing us all off?"

"Yeah," Mavis S answered, "it's an Environment Shield made by the dust deposits. Keeps the whole place acting like its still on the ground."

"Cool," I replied as we walked through the massive gates.

Soon enough I was walking up the spiraling marble steps with the royalties and Aksel with me. I guess this time they could stay because when I stepped into the temple place, Overseer didn't tell them to leave. The gold clad man just stood there in the same pose as last night, hands on the bottom of his sword which was held upside down so the blade tapped the ground. His back was to us, but eventually he turned, cosmic eyes holding weariness.

"Approach," he called and we all looked at each other, but obliged. When we had stepped forward, he brought his sword up and tapped the tip against my chest before he spoke, "The time is now for you to leave."

"Why?" I asked, very curious now and kind of angry of him doing this. "Why do I have to leave?"

"Because you are not welcome here."

"But my mom was your student! She was one of you guys!"

"But she is gone now!" he retorted, snapping at me and causing me to yelp with a jump back. "She disappeared years ago, lost to the unexplored regions of Remnant."

I stayed there, frozen on the spot when he explained what happened to my mom, or at least what he knew about her.

"You don't... but can't you see her!" I shouted, really mad that he didn't use his semblance to find her. "You can see and hear everything right? So use it to find her!"

He somberly looked at me with sadness and turned to look out the other side of the temple.

"I can look only so far, child," he responded, sliding his sword into a sheath at his side. "There is darkness in this world, a darkness that clouds pieces of my vision."

My anger left, fading away as curiosity took over. My mouth slightly opened and I started walking to him, curious on what he meant.

"Darkness?"

"Yes, darkness," he spoke and turned. "There is a darkness coming, I have seen it, a void in my infinite vision. It blots out parts of the world and slowly grows, soon, I fear, it will cloud my vision and all I can do is hope we survive."

"Sir," we heard and turned to look at Aksel who had stepped forward, both Valeans behind him standing in shock, "you never mentioned this before."

"Because you did not need to know," he stated, the Overseer's facial expression hardening. "We need not concern ourselves with the affairs of the four kingdoms."

With that, he walked to the pedestal and slid his sword into it. This time, instead of a beam of light shooting up into the sky, arcs of lightning shot out, crackling as they touched the top of each pillar surrounding us. In seconds, the energy had circulated along the ring-like roof on top of the pillars, making a new ring of energy that spun as fast as a Boarbatusk.

"Prepare yourself, Ruby Rose," Overseer stated as he raised his sword up a bit in the pedestal. "You will be sent back to Vale."

He shot the sword down and tensed up, afraid of what was going to happen. However, out of the blue he gasped and I saw his eyes glow, meaning his semblance was active. In the mere seconds I had, I pretty much thought up of how the process went. This must be some kind of transporter and he used his semblance to send people anywhere in the world, but if he was in pain or something while using it... the darkness!

Suddenly, I was shot up into the sky, streams of all kinds of different colored lights around me. It was like I was in a brightly lit tube of vivid rainbow colors. I was a blur of red and black from what I could see, flying across the world. It felt like hours as I was transported and in that time I felt pure terror on whether he misaimed and sent me into a volcano or into a pack of Grimm or even worse, back to Beacon. I got my answer, however, when I landed on a cliff side. I groaned in pain and tried getting up, feeling my back start to bruise. This must've been their way of a rough landing seeing as I saw the ground being cracked and dust flying in the air everywhere.

Then, the moment I got on my feet, the worst thing possible happened, the cliff started cracking and breaking. I froze, out of fear as the rocks started collapsing and falling. I tried running onto stable ground, but the stone gave way underneath me. I hit some more cliffs on the way down, feeling my skin getting bruised and cut, bones on the verge of breaking. I managed to activate my aura a third of the way down and for the rest of the hits I was more protected.

When I finally landed on the ground below, I was bruised and battered, hurting a lot. I tried to get up, but felt searing pain in my body. I looked down to see a sharp piece of stone embedded in my leg and another piece in my side. They must've cut into me before I activated my aura. With those two rocks impaled in me, I couldn't heal properly so that left me with either trying to crawl to safety, calling for help, or dying.

I chose the second one and opened my mouth, "Hello!" My voice was cracked, in pain since I actually felt like I was dying, which I probably was. I hoped Overseer could see me or something so he would send help, but no lights came down, no Bullheads appeared, nothing. I almost gave up hope as darkness ate the last piece of my vision, but then a face popped into my eyes.

A man, white face paint covering his face with three black lines going down either sides of his face from his eyebrow to the bottom of either cheek. His eyes were focused on me, concentrated and narrowed. Those were the last images I saw before the darkness finally took over, engulfing my vision and making me plummet into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p><strong>Well<strong>

**Dang**

**She got shot somewhere where Overseer can't get to her**

**That dang darkness**

**So anyways**

**I hope you guys liked that chapter**

**I did**

**Next one will be fun**

**Review, Favorite, and Follow**

**Lord Revan Flame, out**


	5. Goodbye, Monty

**Hey everyone**

**It's Lord Revan Flame...**

**So, as you can notice, this isn't a chapter**

**There is a good, no, not good, a morbid reason to this**

**Just yesterday, on February 1st of 2015 at 4:34 P.M.**

**Monty Oum, the creator of our beloved series, RWBY, passed away**

**Monty Oum, has left this world and gone into the divine beyond**

**...**

**I'm sorry everyone, I'm so sorry**

**And I know you're sorry too**

**I'm sorry and you're sorry, we all feel sorry, sorry we could do nothing to help him**

**On this day and many days more, we shall mourn him**

**We shall mourn with his family, his wife and father and siblings**

**I know, we cannot feel the same pain as them, but there are a few of us who truly can**

**Monty Oum meant much to all of us, he was a hero to look up to, a man whom we all shall immortalize in memory and story**

**That, is one which I have done**

**Today, I have published a new project**

**One I hope you all shall read**

**Monty Oum, the First Huntsman**

**I shall immortalize him in memory and I hope you all choose to do something of the same**

**Now**

**I have only two simple words to say**

**Nothing fancy, nothing big**

**But it is hard**

**Goodbye, Monty**


	6. Takoda of the Hawnfoe

**Hey guys**

**What's going on**

**New chapter!  
><strong>

**Yay**

**So, anyways**

**We left off with Ruby getting accidentally sent to another place**

**So, where is she?**

**The heck should I know, I make this up as I go along**

**Now, we're introducing yet another new character**

**A pretty cool character with an all new backstory I'm very sure no one else has made**

**So, let's get a moving!**

* * *

><p>"Huh!" I gasped in shock, waking up to the sound of a crackling fire and the chirping of a bird.<p>

I looked around, seeing a campsite around me, a forest surrounding that. The night was dark, midnight blue with the broken moon hanging in the sky. The stars were out, shining while birds chirped and different bugs made noises. I was on the cliff again, this time on more stable ground and on a blanket with another blanket on me. Pulling it off, I looked down to see my side bandaged and my leg to, both healed by my aura while I slept.

I rubbed my eyes, wondering where I was and took another look around. There were two logs sitting around the campfire, lines in the dirt showing that they had been hauled here. Another blanket was nearby, signaling that someone else was here with me. I searched for this mysterious person and found them not so far off along the cliff side, standing next to a horse... talking to it...

Getting up, my legs moved me towards my mysterious savior, but I grabbed Crescent Rose off the ground, finding it on a rock. Since it was prepared, I could use it in combat, but I couldn't use it now or else the person would hear me. As I continued to sneak up on them, the dim moonlight gave me a better appearance of the person. It was a he, a man with an average height and skin that was really tan. He didn't really wear anything on his chest except this kind of buckskin cloak that wasn't really a cloak, more like a war shirt with the strips of cloth coming off it and colors like red, blue, and a golden tan giving a nice look. His hair was long, colored raven black and decorated with beaded feathers along with a red and brown headband tied around his head.

"If you want to sneak up on man from Hawnfoe tribe, then you should not do so downwind," he spoke in a deep voice and I perked up, confused until the breeze came by and blew the sent of dried blood up my nose.

"Oh, well..."

I tried coming up with a comeback, but I didn't get anything. Even if I did get one I doubt he'd care, he was to focused on, well, talking to the horse.

"Um, sir?" I called, but he didn't seem to acknowledge me. "Sir?"

He still didn't hear me or at least he wasn't trying to listen to me so I unfolded Crescent Rose, aiming the rifle barrel at him.

"Sir!"

He turned his head with a 'really?' expression on his face, eyebrow raised and a bored expression on his face.

"What?" he asked and I put a frown on.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to communicate with my horse," he answered and went back to moving the horse's head left and right.

"What?"

"My father told me of a time when animals could speak," he began explaining and I just raised my eyebrows farther up. "He said some still do, so I ask my companion if he is hurt." With that, he narrowed his eyes, furrowing his eyebrows in concentration. "I think he is stupid."

I tilted my head in confusion and my mouth dropped, was this guy for real?

"Will you thank me?"

I perked up again as I realized he was talking to me.

"What?"

"Will you thank me?"

"Thank you?" I asked in confusion, but he took it as an actual thanks.

"Your welcome," he spoke and patted my arm, having let go of the horse and walked towards the campfire.

After passing me, he sat down on one of the logs next to the fire, opening a pouch that was on a belt wrapped around him. He took out some dried pieces of meat and a slab of bread, then opened a larger pouch next to the log and took out a clay plate. He put it on a griddle that he set up over the fire and let the meat heat up with the bread.

"Will you come eat, young one?" he called, raising an eyebrow in my direction.

A moment passed and eventually, I let down my sweetheart with caution and in hesitance. He didn't make any moves to attack me so I went and sat on the log opposite of him so the fire was in between us. From the fire's light, I could see his face which was painted white with three black lines probably drawn with his fingers going down from his eyebrows to the bottom of both his cheeks.

"Um, okay," I shyly said as he kept staring at me.

He only broke his stare to grab the food off the griddle, taking off pieces of meat to eat. I watched him chew and taste the food, but eventually he noticed. He held out a hand with some meat in it and I cautiously reached over the fire and took some. The man also gestured at the bread on the griddle so I took a bit and from there I just ate. We watched each other during the meal, eyeing the other person as we chewed on animal flesh or bread.

"So, um... what's your name?" I asked and he stopped chewing on his bread, looking up at me with an annoyed expression. "Uh... my name's Ruby Rose."

He kept staring at me, but after a while he swallowed and answered me, "I am Takoda."

"Dakota?"

"No!" he snapped in a bit of frustration and annoyance. "Tah-Code-Ah."

"Oh, sorry Takoda," I apologized with a sheepish smile and I guess he accepted the apology since he just rolled his eyes before going back to eating. "So, where are you from?"

He looked at me with annoyance again since I asked him the question right before he took a bite out of a piece of bread. Closing his mouth and moving the food away, he answered, "I hail from the Hawnfoe tribe."

"Hawnfoe tribe?"

"Yes, your people would call us Faunus."

"Oh, so your a Faunus?" I said with curiosity since I couldn't see any visible animal parts.

"No," he answered and I blinked in confusion.

"No?"

"No."

"But you said you're from a Faunus tribe."

"Yes, I come from Faunus tribe. They raised me since I was a small child," he explained in his accent. "I know not who my father and mother were, but they abandoned me. I grew up as Takoda of the Hawnfoe tribe."

I looked at him with wide eyes for a while, mouth slightly open as he looked back with a bored look. After a couple of minutes, he went back to eating and then so did was kinda awkward eating with this guy, mostly because he didn't look like a civilized person in his natives clothes.

"So... Takoda, how did you find me?" I asked and he looked up from his piece of bread.

"Light fall from sky and I heard loud noise," he explained and I mouthed an 'o', but he kept going, "then cliff break and I hear loud crack, and then I hear rocks crash... and then you scream."

I felt my face start to burn out of embarrassment, but before either of us could speak his horse came over. It put its snout in the crook of his neck and he tried to ignore the animal, but he kept pushing him.

"You're horse... he's uh..."

"Begging," Takoda finished and crumbled up some bread or tore it into bits. "Here, now stop."

He sprinkled the bread crumbs in front of the horse and the animal licked it out of the air or off his shoulder. He seemed pretty annoyed as his steed continued licking him, even pushing him a bit with his tongue.

More time passed and eventually I asked my next question, "So why are you out here?"

"Because I am a hunter," he stated and I perked up, a huntsman out here? Alone?

"You're a huntsman?"

"No, hunter," he stated and pointed at several feathers on his headdress. "I am a seeker of things."

"What kind of things?"

"Evil things," he replied and looked at me with a serious look, his face hardened like the Overseer's. "I search for the Wendigo."

"Wendigo?"

"Yes, Grimm," he explained and my eyes went wide.

"I've never heard of that Grimm before."

"Most do not," he spoke and poked the fire with a stick, "my tribe was murdered by Wendigo."

"Really?" I breathed, feeling some sympathy for him as he stared into the flames.

"Yes, this Grimm is special."

"Special?"

"Very special," he spoke and began explaining again as he pulled a bit out of a piece of meat, consuming it. "Wendigo was not always Grimm, once it was human."

My eyes went wide at listening, a Grimm that was a human?

"He drinks blood of Grimm and feasts on flesh of man, only then does he become Wendigo."

"So... so he's a cannibal?" I gulped in fear and he looked up, nodding.

"To me, he is Wendigo, to humans, he is Azuin."

"Azuin," I breathed, feeling a familiar tone to it until I realized how close it resembled Azduil and Azuil. "S-so you're hunting this Azuin?"

"Yes, I tracked him here, but then you fell from heavens," he replied and I blushed, realizing how all of this fit together. "Great Spirit must have sent you, you wield mighty weapon do you not?"

I cocked my head back in confusion until I realized he was referring to my sweetheart. I nodded and brought out my red rose weapon, unfolding her to showcase Crescent Rose in her full beauty.

"Ah, you train to be huntress. Also a seeker of things," he said and I nodded, agreeing. "Then you can help me. Wendigo's camp is not far, in the morning we strike."

"W-wait, we're attacking him?" I asked and he nodded.

"We rest, replenish energy. He has many henchman and we must face them to face him," he explained like he thought it was all going to be simple, which he probably did think. "Then I help you return to world of men."

I hesitantly nodded as he got up, putting all the stuff away before he laid down on a large roll of cloth, like a blanket, but also a sleeping bag. He was already asleep by the time I laid down on the other one, the one I woke up on. The stench of blood was on it, but it was faint, he probably washed it. Dropping into darkness, I only dreamt about the Celestial Fortress and the faces of everyone there... and then... and then I dreamt about Beacon.

* * *

><p>"Yang," Blake breathed , eyes looking down as the brawler continually bashed her fists against the punching bag.<p>

The two plus Weiss stood in the training room, the blonde practicing her strength as the white haired heiress shifted through her dust stockpile and added them to her prized rapier. Blake herself had practiced her fighting on the automaton dummies provided to the students by the school, but she grew tired of it quickly, as she had since the disappearance of Ruby Rose.

"Yang."

The blonde still ignored her, punching the bag harder and harder as she forced the voice of her partner away.

"Yang!"

"What!" she yelled, bashing the punching bag one last time and sending it flying back into the spine of the holding device before coming back and swinging around for a while.

"Yang, you've been training nonstop for the past two days. Right after Ruby left and disappeared, you went straight to here and broke over twenty of the punching bags!"

"What else am I supposed to do? Read a stupid book like you? Huh!"

The two glared at each other intensely as Weiss watched with shock and slight terror, terrified at seeing the two forces oppose themselves. The silence was broken, however, when Jaune rushed into the training room, huffing and puffing as he stood out of breath.

"Pyrrha!" he cried out and fell over, red faced and sweating.

The red haired warrior walked into the training room, yet to have break her own sweat as she looked down on him. He was in an embarrassing position of his posterior sticking in the air as his knees were bent along with his hands draped backwards and the side of his face squished against the ground.

"I told you training would be hard."

"But you never said so hard I'd die!"

"It's a given, Jaune. It's a given," she chuckled and he groaned, but stopped when he noticed the three others girls in the room. "Oh! Hi guys!"

Yang ignored him as Weiss moved her head away and only Blake nodded in acknowledgement. The blonde and red head watched as Yang went back to striking the punching bag with her fists, her speed increasing as Blake began speaking again.

"Yang, you need to slow down."

"Slow down?" she growled, baring her teeth a bit as she sneered the words out as if she were trying to rid her mouth of poison. "Why do I need to slow down?"

"Because you've barely slept, ate, even gone to class! You're acting like me when we were hunting the White Fang!"

"Well I need to get stronger!"

"No you don't! You just need to apologize!"

One last swing to the punching bag sent it flying off, a burnt hole in it as Yang snapped her head to the side. Her eyes were seething with red rage as her hair lit up like a sun.

"Apologize! Apologize for her being a, a, a- Argh!" she yelled and smashed a fist into the ground, cracking the metal plating of the training ground. "She betrayed my trust."

"There was no proof she did," the cat Faunus snapped back, but Yang just glared at her with her blood red eyes.

"People saw her walking around at night, even Professor Port saw her walk down a sidewalk under a light."

"But she was going training."

"Ursa crap!"

The two partners stared off again before Blake finally broke the glares. She closed her book and left, brushing past the two members of Team JNPR as she did.

* * *

><p>"There," Takoda spoke and I moved my eyes down into the large canyon below.<p>

The native sort of guy woke me up a couple hours ago so we could get moving and since then I've only asked him what weapon he uses. That weapon, er- weapons being a tomahawk, bow and arrow, and a knife, just those three tools that were actually made of wood and metal, no extra guns or gears. I tried asking him if he'd ever been at a city or anywhere like that, but all I got out from him was that he'd visited a local human town at times.

Anyways, down below was the canyon floor along with a monorail track. Workers were going about, building the monorail. There was something different though and for a while I tried to find out what. I finally did and realized that the workers were Faunus slaves, all of them in rags, holding hammers or something to build the monorail.

"So how do we do this?" I asked and he stood up, tomahawk in hand.

* * *

><p>Several hours later we were running on two trains, trying to escape with our lives.<p>

"Takoda!" I yelled and he looked at me as his legs moved faster than his horse's. "Why are we doing this?"

"Because men are shooting!" he shouted back and as if fate wanted to emphasize, a bullet flew past us... then several more. "Azuin not like trespassers!"

"No, no he does not!"

I looked back and tried to remember what happened exactly. We had snuck into their camp and tried to free Faunus slaves, which had actually worked. Then we caught sight of a tall, pale man in dark armor. Turns out, that was Azuin, and suddenly Takoda was running at him. Long story turned short, we jumped on a train, tried to start it up, failed, and they started up with another train on another track and now we're running for our lives.

"Any ideas on what we should do?" I asked as we jumped down into one of the train cars.

"We find intersection and stop trains, make them run into each other," he spoke in his broken English. "Destroy both of them and then kill Azuin."

"It didn't work the first time, not sure if it'll work the second time," I stated as we heard footsteps on the roof.

"Quickly!"

Takoda broke a window on the side of the train car and leaped out, hanging onto the roof as to flip on top. I watched in amazement at the stunt before the car door opened and in stepped several armed thugs.

"Hey!" one of them shouted and I looked back, bewildered.

Before I knew it, Crescent Rose was unfolded and blocking their attacks with her blade. Each swing cut their gun barrels and made them unusable without blowing up. Their swords and blades were thrown to the sides until only I was left with a weapon. They didn't dare come forward or risk getting cut by my scythe, which I was alright with unless it went all the way through them.

I got really surprised when they backed out of the car and seemingly disappeared. For a moment, I thought they had actually gone so I collapsed my sweetheart into her compact form. However, I was wrong as a big, buff guy appeared with a hand held cannon in his arms... pointed at me. Short version, I got shot out of the car.

My boot got caught on the train car and I was suddenly hanging off the side of it, my head dangerously close to the pistons that chugged and chooed. I screamed out of terror as I watched dirt and smoke and steam spew from beneath the train, but suddenly, I was being lifted up.

My head looked around in amazement as I wondered why I was flying like an angel before I realized there were arms around my waist. Looking back, I stared at my redhead savior. Mavis Crimson Vale the Fifty Third was holding me up as she tried flying us towards safety, struggling a bit with the weight of me and my stuff.

"Mavis!" I cried out in joy and I thought I saw a blush of red on her cheeks as she kept flying.

"Calvary's arrived!" a new voice shouted and I looked down to see a large metal pillar erupt from the ground and smash into the side of the first train.

It went flying off the tracks, Takoda with it into the other train. Luckily, my Faunus sympathizer friend caught a ride from another stone pillar manned by Balon. Kalon appeared, dressed in the finest armor I had ever seen wielding his sword and shield atop another stone pillar.

"Nuva!" he cried out and I watched as the Atlas twins plus a horse riding Mavis Scarlet Vale charge into battle.

Mavis C dropped me down onto a cliff with Galen and Falora standing there. The former was using dust vials to attack any thug who got up and started running towards them while the latter had this big metal backpack on her and a tube running from it to a big spout like weapon in her hands.

"You hurt?" the younger Vacuo sibling asked, holding up her weapon.

"Just some- ah," I hissed as I felt my old wounds burn. "Yeah, kinda hurt."

For some reason, she smirked and pushed a lever on top of the weapon forward. A soft light shot from the spout like head and it became a tendril of some kind of aura, covering me and closing my wounds. Flesh got stitched back together, blood was dissipated, bone was hardened, and my body was overall healed up.

"How?" I asked as she smiled and nudged her brother.

"I told you it would work!" she shouted and Galen gave a happy chuckle.

"Yes you did, sister, yes you did."

"What? What was that?" I asked as Mavis C walked over to look over at the trains.

"Healing gun I made, uses healing dust and a special formula to make you all better," Falora proudly claimed as an explosion rang out from the trains.

"Oh boy," Mavis C said as we watched Mavis S roll across the ground, her horse shot up.

She landed on a foot and knee, her arms crisscrossed so her hands were on the opposite leg from their side. Slowly, the Valean stood up with her amethyst eyes holding a observant gaze. The thugs that ran up raised guns up at her, pointing their barrels at the woman.

Her curved body was donned in silver armor, the same as her ancestor's from what I had seen from pictures. It looked a bit different, however, with new designs on it and being more... sleek and sparse. Where there had been a full armor set like a knight's for the first Mavis, Mavis Scarlet's covered her chest and went down to just reveal her stomach that was covered in crimson cloth. An armored combat skirt encircled her legs, metal plates barely clanking as they slid on each other as she moved. Her lithe, armored arms swung with two long blades in each hand as she cut down the thugs in throngs.

"There's my sis for you," Mavis C stated as I watched in awe, marveling at the fluidity of her movements.

Without warning, a flash of silver came down and Ken Mistral cut down a thug before impaling another with his oriental sword. He had more strength in his swings than Mavis, using momentum rather than fluency to cut opponents down, literally. I could see people getting dismembered and cut open with his finely crafted blade. Very soon, I watched Kalon and Balon join the fight, the former a charging warrior and the latter a berserker.

We walked down towards the group of four at the end of the battle to find them encircling none other than Azuin. He was lying with a crisscrossing X wound on his chest, courtesy of Mavis. As he bled, he hissed at us in pain, misaligned teeth baring at us with rotten yellow color. The armor he wore was dark and more barbaric, sharply pointed at ends and made of some kind of metal that resembled a kind of stone or bone look.

"Azuin the Ravenous," Ken spoke and pointed the end of his blade at the man's neck, "we've been searching for you."

He spat at us, but before anyone could act, Takoda ran through us with a tomahawk. Landing on him, he raised the weapon, but a hand grabbed his wrist. It was Kalon and it was Balon who tackled him to the ground.

"Wait!" I shouted before they could get into a brawl. "Takoda, what are you doing?"

"Wendigo feasted on my people, I shall have justice!" the native shouted at me, but Balon glared.

"This man deserves punishable justice, he deserves a court to justify a torture for him," Kalon claimed, sheathing his sword.

Takoda looked at the Atlasian for a moment before slowly nodding.

"Okay, good, we're all friends," Mavis S spoke and looked at Takoda. "So, who's you're friend, Ruby?"

* * *

><p><strong>Well folks<strong>

**Here it is**

**The next chapter**

**Sorry about that really long wait**

**I've been busy**

**Both life and the Monty Oum memorial story I've been working on**

**So**

**Sorry about that**

**Remember to Review and Favorite and Follow**

**Lord Revan Flame, signing off**


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